Lewis Hamilton made his message unmistakably clear. The standings show a difficult period for him (two sixth-place finishes in the last two races), but the seven-time world champion has a different perspective.
“Maybe one day you’ll find out everything that’s been holding us back,” he said cryptically, “whether it’s team mistakes, car problems, or driver errors. From my side, I can say that in the end, my Montreal weekend was better than the previous ones. Qualifying performance improved, then in the race I had the issue you all know about (hitting a groundhog).”
Lewis described a stretch of races where things haven’t gone as he would have liked. “A lot has happened during the last few weekends. I can confirm we’re trying to arrive at the track and do our best. Behind the scenes, I’m working hard with Fred and the team to implement changes that, in many cases, we’ll see bear fruit in the long term.”
“I’m working with Loïc (Serra) and the whole team on next year’s suspension systems to make sure the understeer problems don’t return. We’re putting to good use the lessons learned from the issues we’ve had to make sure next season is better.”
During the Spielberg weekend, Lewis Hamilton will have an updated floor at his disposal — the first in a series of upgrades arriving before the summer break. “I’m happy to have an update. It’s always exciting. We still don’t know what kind of impact it will have. Hopefully it’s a step in the right direction. We’re not expecting major changes, but there’s always hope it might surprise us in a good way. We’re making progress — whether you see it or not isn’t necessarily important to me personally. I feel I’m making progress, I feel we are making progress as a team, and that’s what matters most.”
Lewis Hamilton also briefly commented on the FIA’s updated penalty guidelines: “I don’t drive by those rules, to be honest. I drive the way that comes naturally to me. The stewards always have a difficult job. Let’s not forget every racing move is different. I think setting boundaries is a good thing. So far, I haven’t had any problems. The rules haven’t affected me, but I don’t know what the other drivers think. It’s interesting how every year different people come in and bring new solutions — some good, some less so.”
As for Charles Leclerc’s comment about the 2026 car — “Let’s say it’s not the most fun I’ve ever driven” — Hamilton replied briefly, revealing he hasn’t yet tried the simulator model for next year’s project. “I haven’t started those sessions yet. The reason is the model isn’t fully finished, but I believe it will be soon. Not pleasant to drive? That’s what I’ve heard…”
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