Lewis Hamilton sees positive signs at Ferrari after beating Charles Leclerc in qualifying and believes he has found how to push the SF-25 to the limit
Despite a challenging Canadian weekend, Lewis Hamilton found a positive takeaway to bring with him at Ferrari: a clear improvement in qualifying compared to his teammate Charles Leclerc. On the Montréal circuit, the seven-time world champion managed to qualify ahead of the Monegasque for the third time this season, with a margin of 0.156s—the biggest recorded between the two so far this year.
It was also the first time this season that Lewis Hamilton beat his Maranello teammate in qualifying for two consecutive Grands Prix, confirming progress over a single lap—an area that had been one of his weaknesses in recent years. Charles Leclerc still leads 7–3 in Saturday qualifying, and 8–4 when including Sprints, but the average lap-time gap between them has narrowed from 0.195s to 0.163s.
Lewis Hamilton beats Charles Leclerc in qualifying: the start of a new trend?
Lewis Hamilton explained: “My qualifying was better, and I was keeping pace with Oscar Piastri until the damage.” He was referring to the loss of downforce that slowed his SF-25 in the second half of the race.
“We probably should’ve pitted earlier, but for some reason we stayed out and I lost a lot of time. I came back out behind several drivers and got stuck. But finishing fifth and sixth is still a positive result,” added the Briton.
Finally, Lewis Hamilton joked about one of the weekend’s more unusual moments: “If everything had been perfect, if we hadn’t had any problems, maybe we would’ve finished fourth. But then I hit the groundhog…”
Ferrari’s Canadian GP report card remains bittersweet: signs of progress in qualifying management are clear, but strategy and consistency during the race still need improvement. However, the improvement shown by Hamilton suggests a gradual adaptation and a more central role in the fight for valuable points for the Scuderia.
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