Lewis Hamilton says the Canadian Grand Prix podium gave him so much hope and confidence

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton explained how his confidence in the team’s car’s abilities had been boosted after finishing third in Montreal; Next up for F1 is the British Grand Prix with all sessions live on Sky Sports F1 the weekend of July 1-3

Lewis Hamilton received a huge confidence boost after overcoming a tough start to the weekend to finish third in Canada.

The seven-time world champion let his frustration vent after Friday’s second practice session as Mercedes’ struggles returned to the surface, but turned it around to qualify fourth the following day.

Hamilton then managed to drive his car home in third in Sunday’s race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for just his second podium of 2022 so far and his first since the opening round of the year in Bahrain and cut a much happier figure afterwards than he had two. days earlier.

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Montreal Canadian GP Highlights

“The women and men back at the factory work hard weekend, weekend and it’s so hard for all of us to work and work and not always see progress,” Hamilton said.

“It’s been such a tough year for me personally in terms of the car. Qualifying was emotional for me and back in the garage we were like ‘wow, this is beautiful for us’.”

“Then having a solid race gives me so much hope and confidence for the future.”

Hamilton’s third-place finish followed him finishing fourth in the previous round in Azerbaijan and the 37-year-old notices a gradual increase in the team’s understanding of how to make the most of the troublesome W13.

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Lewis Hamilton beat former rival Fernando Alonso to the Canadian Grand Prix podium

But although he received a timely boost of confidence ahead of racing at home at the British Grand Prix in two weeks, he warned there was still a long way to go to ensure the team could find that sweet spot in the configuration. for Silverstone.

“There is potential in this car but it has a very small working window and if you don’t get it perfectly it’s all over the place and it’s really hard to get through but the team has done a great job. this weekend,” Hamilton said.

“I’ve had a fourth and a third now, so I’m really grateful and I know I can do more, and I just have to keep working.”

Hamilton was trailed at home by teammate George Russell in fourth, with his fellow Briton maintaining his record of being the only driver to finish in the top five in every race so far this year.

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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the team has shown real pace in the race but insists there is still work to be done.

Team principal Toto Wolff was understandably delighted with the performance of his two drivers in Canada and believes the team has now figured out how to develop the car for the rest of the season.

“They were both really good and they were on different rear wing setups and setups,” Wolff said. “We showed pace today.

“Going forward, we just need to develop the car in a different window than we had. We had it very low on the ground and it clearly wasn’t working.”

“I think we have a development orientation. We have not succeeded in many areas, but we own the problem and we have to solve it.”

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George Russell was happy with the pace of his Mercedes, but says they have yet to fully resolve their porpoising issues

Russell, meanwhile, felt Mercedes was still a long way off favorites Red Bull and Ferrari, but was happy with his and the team’s results in Montreal.

“At the end of the day, our race pace was closer to Ferrari and Red Bull than we’ve seen all season, but the inherent performance isn’t there yet,” Russell said.

“Nevertheless, P4 are good points for the team and it’s great to be back on the podium for the team.”