Lewis Hamilton reveals Ferrari breakthrough after Canada preparation change
Lewis Hamilton looked strong in Sprint qualifying in Montréal. and feels his prep change is the "way forward" from here.
Lewis Hamilton believes he has found a new “way forward” in race preparation at Ferrari, having not used the team’s simulator ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.
Hamilton opted to take a change of approach between Miami and Canada, with him and the Scuderia spending time going through data, which in turn has made the car closer to his liking in the process.
Lewis Hamilton details Ferrari preparation change in Canada
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Hamilton outqualified Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc for the Sprint in Montréal on Saturday, with the seven-time world champion having been at or around the top of the leaderboard for most of the qualifying session.
By the end of SQ3, though, the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli locked out the front row, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locking out the second row for McLaren.
It’s an all-Ferrari third row for Saturday’s 23-lap race, with Hamilton admitting his change in preparation bore fruit straight away.
“Yeah, great, probably the best qualifying session we had for some time,” he said after the session.
“Just really great work with the engineers. Setup changes, the car felt really fantastic from P1 and we made just subtle changes going into quali.
“P1 and P2 was looking good, and then I don’t know why the others are able to like turn up a little bit more, I don’t know, but I’m just happy to be there in a fight.
“I was having so much fun out there, and also, the fact that I didn’t do the sim, and I feel it’s the best I felt all year. So, I think that’s the way forward for me.
Elaborating on how he spent his time between races instead, Hamilton added: “We worked pretty hard sifting through the data the last couple of weeks, and I found that so much more beneficial in terms of, one, I was able to then just focus on training and not be distracted, and then the second part is just really going through with a fine comb with ride stability, through-corner balances and mechanical balance.
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“I chose a setup that we’ve not used – I don’t think we’ve ever used it actually before – and it’s transformed the car for me, so I hope that bodes well for the rest of the weekend.”
The Sprint gets underway at 12noon in Canada [5pm UK], before Canadian Grand Prix qualifying takes place later in the day.
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