Lewis superstar of the day
On the track where 19 years ago he achieved his first Formula 1 victory, Lewis Hamilton at 41 years old perhaps marked a new beginning at the Canadian GP: the second place in Montreal, certainly favored by George Russell’s retirement, seems to have the taste of rebirth for the seven-time British world champion. Hamilton had never driven so well in a Ferrari and perhaps for the first time in a year and a half he truly won the internal duel with Charles Leclerc, as shown by the 34 seconds he put on the Monegasque under the checkered flag. The perfect day for #44 then ended with a duel won against his arch-rival, Max Verstappen. A battle between lions ended with handshakes, hugs, and pats on the back. A Hamilton once again a protagonist of the gotha of F1, in short.
Read more Antonelli: “Today I was calmer, I forced Russell into a mistake. I was faster than him”
“Do something more? No, I don’t think so. We could never have caught the Mercedes today, they were too fast – Hamilton said to the microphones of Sky Sport and it’s hard to disagree – we kept up the pace for a while, but then they pulled away from me and Max when I was third. Maybe the battle would have been a bit easier if I had caught Max earlier, but then when I locked up I went straight and had to work hard to try to close the gap. But we managed it and I am grateful to everyone for the great work they are doing at the factory, because they keep pushing. I know this is not the result we want to achieve in the end, but today it’s fine like this“.
Between Antonelli and Max
The most successful driver in F1 history then spent beautiful words for the World Championship leader, Antonelli, who today reached his fourth consecutive victory: “Do I see myself in him? No, I don’t see myself when I look at him. But he is a little younger than me, let’s say. He took my role at Mercedes and is doing a fantastic job. He has an extraordinary team behind him and I am incredibly happy for him and the team. I have been with them for so long, so if we don’t win I hope they do. It brings joy to my heart to see them win, but I want to bring my current team, this one, back to the top. Because I think this team has come through many difficult years and deserves to fight for the top again. So I am working with all my might, together with Fred, who is doing a fantastic job as team leader, our engineers, and everyone working at the factory. It is a long process to make progress, but if we manage to achieve this result on a track where power is decisive, then I think on circuits where power matters less maybe we can do even better“.
Read more Gioia Verstappen: “Beautiful battle with Hamilton, I am happy for Kimi’s victory”
Finally, to the French TV Canal+, Hamilton expressed a thought on the renewed battle with Verstappen, which for a day turned back the clock to 2021: “It was nice to fight with Max again – observed the English #44 – it doesn’t often happen to be on par in terms of power and pace. I saw that he had more power but maybe we had more grip. But we managed to have a real battle”.
Read more 2026 Constructors’ Championship: the standings after the Canadian GP
