Lewis Hamilton clarifies Montreal reference: he was referring to updated brake system tested by Charles Leclerc
The mystery surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s comments made after the 2025 Sprint Race at Spa-Francorchamps has been clarified. The British Formula 1 champion has now explained that his reference to Charles Leclerc using “certain parts” in Montreal was about an updated brake system, putting to rest speculation about possible unannounced upgrades.
The Montreal mystery explained
Following a frustrating Saturday at the Belgian Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton finished a disappointing 15th in the Sprint Race at Spa, the British driver had told Sky Sports UK:
“I’m really grateful to the team for bringing me some new parts. Charles had them already in Montreal, so maybe he has a bit more experience with them, whereas for me yesterday was the first time. I was thinking about how Charles had a similar issue in Canada to what happened to me in the Sprint Qualifying.”
Those statements sparked confusion, as Scuderia Ferrari had not officially introduced any new components during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. The FIA publishes a list of updates for every team ahead of each Grand Prix, and no new parts were listed for Ferrari in Montreal.
This led to speculation that Hamilton may have been referring to something not classified as a standard car upgrade. Sky Sport Italia commentator Matteo Bobbi later suggested that the component in question could be a new type of brake pad—a theory that now aligns perfectly with Hamilton’s post-race clarification.
Lewis Hamilton explains the update: it was about the braking system
Speaking again to Sky Sports UK, Lewis Hamilton confirmed that he had been referring specifically to the braking system when he mentioned the new parts.
“The first Free Practice session and then straight into qualifying with these new brakes definitely caught me by surprise,” he revealed, indicating that he had limited time to adapt to the new brake behavior.
Later, during his interviews with journalists following his seventh-place finish in Sunday’s Grand Prix, Hamilton provided further context regarding the differences between his setup and that of Charles Leclerc:
“I made quite a few changes overnight. There were a lot of adjustments made heading into the weekend because of the upgrade we brought. There are essentially two components—one of them was supposed to be tested in Montreal, but I didn’t get to run it. Charles did try it there and then used it in a couple of races.”
Charles Leclerc had prior experience with the component
Hamilton went on to explain that Charles Leclerc’s previous experience with the part had given the Monegasque driver a head start in terms of confidence and familiarity:
“Charles did a great job and feels more comfortable with it, whereas it was my first time using it. That spin caught me off guard because it wasn’t something we were expecting.”
In addition, Lewis Hamilton highlighted another factor that may have contributed to the challenges he faced over the Spa weekend—the introduction of a new performance engineer assigned to him starting with the Belgian Grand Prix:
“There was a change of engineers, and so both of us were learning. In a way, we were both quite new to this situation. But we did a great job overnight correcting some of those issues, and the car improved significantly.”
With these clarifications, Lewis Hamilton put to rest any doubts about his post-Sprint remarks, confirming that there was no secret aerodynamic update or chassis change—only a revised braking system that had previously been tested by Charles Leclerc. His comments also highlighted the learning curve involved when introducing new components and personnel mid-season, even for the most experienced drivers on the Formula 1 grid.
