Lewis Hamilton delivered his first truly standout performance in Ferrari red during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. The British driver put together a highly impressive, if not flawless, weekend and remained firmly in control of the performance comparison with his teammate throughout the event.
On the other side of the garage, Charles Leclerc appeared unusually uncomfortable and struggled to find his rhythm for most of the weekend. Aside from a few promising laps, the Monegasque driver never seemed fully at ease with the SF-26. Even excluding his mistake at Turn 8, the comparison with Lewis Hamilton was relatively balanced during the first two-thirds of the race. However, the picture changed dramatically over the final 20 laps.
“Let’s stop talking until the last lap. Tell me when it comes, otherwise only critical messages,” Charles Leclerc told his race engineer over team radio. After mentally disconnecting from the fight, the gap increased significantly. The final race pace figures showed Lewis Hamilton holding an advantage of more than three-tenths of a second per lap over his teammate.
Over the past five years, in dry races, Charles Leclerc has only been more than one-tenth of a second slower than his teammate on three occasions, two of which came in Mexico. That underlines just how unusual the Canadian Grand Prix was. The positive aspect for Ferrari was that Charles Leclerc still managed to secure a respectable result despite the difficulties. His 16-point haul compared to Lewis Hamilton’s 21 points represented acceptable damage limitation during such a challenging weekend.
Montreal ultimately stands out as a rare exception in Charles Leclerc’s recent career, while also highlighting a Lewis Hamilton performance that may have been his strongest since joining Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton finds answers in Montreal: “I perform better without the simulator”
The week had already begun with a significant revelation. The former Mercedes driver admitted he had not relied on Ferrari’s simulator for preparation, choosing alternative methods instead. The decision was particularly notable given the importance of simulator work under the current regulations.
“I think a good idea could be, for example, to go back and carry out a correlation analysis with this weekend so we can understand where the gaps are [with the simulator],” Lewis Hamilton explained after the race.
“Will I use it to prepare for another race? Probably not. The risks are simply too high. It can be an incredibly powerful tool. But I’m old school. I probably perform better without it.”
The Canadian Grand Prix results appeared to support Lewis Hamilton’s position. He finished roughly one-tenth quicker than Charles Leclerc in both qualifying sessions and secured an excellent second-place finish in the race.
On a circuit that many expected to be difficult for the Ferrari SF-26, particularly over a race distance, Lewis Hamilton finished only around two-and-a-half tenths per lap behind race winner Kimi Antonelli. Considering Antonelli’s pace management during the second stint following George Russell’s retirement, Ferrari’s pure performance deficit to Mercedes may have exceeded four-tenths per lap.
Looking ahead, several circuits on the calendar have historically suited Lewis Hamilton’s driving style. Barcelona, Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps and Budapest could all offer opportunities for the seven-time world champion to maintain his momentum and challenge Charles Leclerc on a more consistent basis.
Montreal may prove to be a turning point.
“This weekend I chose a different setup after carefully analysing the data and worked extremely well with my engineer. Finally, I was able to attack every corner aggressively,” Lewis Hamilton said enthusiastically after the race.
What makes this performance particularly significant is that race pace has been Lewis Hamilton’s main weakness since arriving at Ferrari. During the first 50 laps in Montreal, his advantage over Charles Leclerc is estimated at around one-and-a-half tenths per lap, making it arguably his strongest race performance since joining the Scuderia.
Charles Leclerc struggles for grip as cold conditions expose weaknesses
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has never ranked among Charles Leclerc’s favourite venues. Alongside Melbourne and Shanghai, Montreal has traditionally been one of the tracks least suited to his natural driving style.
The rear-limited characteristics of the circuit do not complement the setup preferences that have defined much of Charles Leclerc’s success in Formula 1. This year, unusually cool temperatures only amplified the problem.
Even a basic review of the telemetry data from Friday and Saturday qualifying sessions reveals a clear lack of rear-end confidence. Similar patterns have appeared before whenever temperatures drop, making life particularly difficult for the Monegasque compared with Lewis Hamilton and, in previous years, Carlos Sainz.
The Ferrari driver spent both Sprint Qualifying and the main qualifying session driving with extreme caution. Mistakes at the exit of Turns 3 and 4 during SQ3 and later at Turns 8 and 9 in Q3 reflected his lack of confidence.
“Since FP1 I haven’t had a car that allowed me to feel what it was doing. Every corner felt like I was about to hit the wall. Today the tyres were completely out of control, yesterday it was the brakes,” Charles Leclerc admitted after Saturday’s qualifying session.
The opening stages of the race brought some improvement, although not enough to reach his usual standards. During the first stint on the soft tyre compound, Charles Leclerc matched Lewis Hamilton’s pace reasonably well, likely helped by the softer compound’s ability to generate temperature more easily.
Once Ferrari switched to the C4 tyre, however, the balance shifted decisively. Lewis Hamilton found a level of performance that Charles Leclerc never managed to access throughout the weekend. During the first 20 laps of the stint, the difference between the two drivers averaged around three-tenths per lap, creating an overall gap of approximately one-and-a-half tenths per lap across the opening 50 laps of the race.
With ambient temperatures hovering around 13°C and track temperatures near 18°C, Charles Leclerc struggled to bring the medium tyres into their optimal operating window. The throttle traces of the two Ferrari drivers told very different stories. Once the tyres reached temperature, Lewis Hamilton effectively appeared to be driving a different car.
By Lap 49, after repeatedly asking race engineer Bryan Bozzi to reduce radio communication, Charles Leclerc effectively conceded defeat. Secure in fourth place, he began lapping more than half a second slower than his previous pace despite the track conditions continuing to improve.
“I need to understand what happens to me at this track and why I haven’t had any feeling from the beginning of the weekend, without any improvement. Even in the final laps, when I’m intentionally one-and-a-half seconds slower, I still have moments where the car snaps because I don’t feel connected to it. We’ll analyse everything and reset for Monaco,” Charles Leclerc said in his final radio message.
The streets of Monaco may offer the perfect opportunity for a response. On a circuit where power unit performance plays a minimal role, the famous ‘Leclerc factor’ could become Ferrari’s greatest weapon as Charles Leclerc aims to challenge for his first victory of the season. The SF-26 will now have the chance to prove its true potential on one of Formula 1’s most demanding tracks.
Leave a Reply