Charles Leclerc has openly acknowledged that Lewis Hamilton delivered a significantly stronger performance at the Canadian Grand Prix, stating that the seven-time world champion extracted everything possible from the Ferrari SF-26 package during a weekend where the Monegasque driver struggled to match his teammate’s pace.
Lewis Hamilton finished second in Montreal, securing his best result since joining Ferrari in 2025 and consistently outpacing Charles Leclerc across both qualifying and race conditions. The performance marked a rare but decisive intra-team advantage for Lewis Hamilton, who demonstrated strong race management and adaptability throughout the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
Although Charles Leclerc managed to finish ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Sprint race on Saturday, the overall trend of the weekend clearly favoured the British driver. In both qualifying sessions and the main race, Lewis Hamilton maintained a stronger pace, while Charles Leclerc experienced a more challenging and inconsistent run, including a half-spin during the Grand Prix that further compromised his final result.
At the end of the race, Charles Leclerc finished several positions behind Lewis Hamilton and more than 30 seconds adrift, highlighting the performance gap between the two Ferrari drivers over the full Canadian Grand Prix distance.
Charles Leclerc says Lewis Hamilton unlocked Ferrari’s maximum potential in Canada
Speaking to Sky Sports in the media pen after the race, Charles Leclerc explained that Lewis Hamilton had effectively maximised the performance of the Ferrari SF-26, suggesting that there was little additional pace available from the car under the conditions seen in Montreal.
Charles Leclerc also noted that Mercedes, with Kimi Antonelli, had extended their strong early-season form by maintaining a perfect winning record in full Grand Prix events, with Lewis Hamilton finishing just under 11 seconds behind the race winner after a competitive but ultimately limited challenge.
Ferrari are also closely monitoring developments around potential Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO), as the FIA continues to evaluate performance gaps between power unit manufacturers. These regulatory factors could play a key role in shaping Ferrari’s development trajectory later in the season.
Despite this, Charles Leclerc stated that Lewis Hamilton’s performance provided a positive reference point for Ferrari, particularly in a weekend where Mercedes introduced their first major upgrade package of the year and demonstrated strong competitiveness across multiple stints.
Charles Leclerc reportedly explained that Lewis Hamilton’s driving was a clear indication of what the Ferrari package was capable of when fully optimised, stating that second place represented the absolute maximum achievable result for the team in Canada.
He added that Ferrari will need continued development progress in order to consistently fight for race victories, highlighting that performance improvements will be essential if the team is to challenge Mercedes and Red Bull over a full season.
Charles Leclerc also suggested that when evaluating Ferrari’s overall performance level, Lewis Hamilton’s execution in Montreal provided a more accurate benchmark than his own weekend, especially given Mercedes’ introduction of a significantly updated car specification.
Charles Leclerc describes difficult Canadian GP as a “nightmare” weekend
Reflecting on his own performance, Charles Leclerc described the Canadian Grand Prix as one of the most difficult weekends of his recent Formula 1 career, stating that issues began as early as the sole practice session on Friday and persisted throughout the event.
Charles Leclerc struggled with a lack of confidence in the car, combined with tyre preparation difficulties and sub-optimal operating windows that prevented him from extracting consistent performance over a single lap or race stint.
At one stage during the race, Charles Leclerc reportedly requested reduced radio communication with his race engineer unless strictly necessary, reflecting his frustration and difficulty in finding solutions to ongoing balance issues during the Grand Prix.
Despite these challenges, Charles Leclerc took full responsibility for his performance, emphasising that the problems were not due to external factors or team errors but rather his inability to adapt to the conditions and tyre behaviour throughout the weekend.
The internal Ferrari battle between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc has now tightened further in the championship standings, with the gap between the two drivers reduced to just three points, highlighting how closely matched they remain despite contrasting Canadian Grand Prix fortunes.
Looking ahead, Ferrari will aim to build on Lewis Hamilton’s strong performance while helping Charles Leclerc recover confidence, as the team continues to develop the SF-26 in pursuit of consistent front-running results in the 2025 Formula 1 season.
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