Lewis Hamilton has spoken of his gratitude and satisfaction after putting together one of his strongest weekends with Ferrari since he joined the team ahead of the 2025 season.
Hamilton experienced a difficult first year at the famous Italian marque as he got used to a new environment and new car, going without a Grand Prix podium across 24 events and finishing 86 points behind team mate Charles Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship.
However, 2026 has looked much brighter for the Briton so far, after maximising his first full winter at Ferrari’s Maranello factory, making changes to his engineering set-up and adapting well to F1’s all-new era of regulations.
Following his first Grand Prix podium for Ferrari in China, Hamilton appeared to find another level last time out in Canada, where he led the Ferrari charge for the majority of the weekend and raced his way to second position.
Reflecting on the result, which was secured via a late scrap with former title rival Max Verstappen, Hamilton said: “I had so much fun out there all weekend – every single lap. I felt like we started on the right foot, came with the right attitude, and the car really generally felt great.
“To come to Montreal, a track that I do love, and get to enjoy a Sprint weekend here, which is the first that we’ve had [here], was awesome – and this is my first second place with the team.
“It’s something I’ve been working so hard [for]… I can’t even begin to explain how deep I’ve had to dig to be able to get to this point, and the work and moving mountains in the background to enable this sort of performance.
“But I’m really grateful to the team for continuing to hold me up high and support me weekend in, weekend out, and it’s a really lovely feeling to see them so happy, because they truly deserve it with all the hard work they put in.”
Pushed further on what is making the difference behind the scenes, Hamilton pointed to “the prep before” the weekend, having avoided using Ferrari’s simulator, as well as the efforts of his new-for-2026 Race Engineer, Carlos Santi, and Team Principal Fred Vasseur.
“I chose a different set-up this weekend, just ciphering through the data, working really well with my engineer – he’s absolutely awesome and I’m really loving working with him,” said the seven-time World Champion.
“My number two did a fantastic job this weekend, helped me really pull more performance out of the car, getting into a much sweeter place, and I was able to attack all the corners finally.
“As I said, there’s a lot of changes that I’ve had to ask for, and Fred’s been super supportive, and again, also moving mountains in order to make me comfortable. It’s finally starting to show in my performance, so thank you to the team.”
Hamilton sits fourth in the Drivers’ standings after the first five rounds of the campaign, holding 72 points to team mate Leclerc’s 75, while Ferrari are second in the Teams’ battle.
