Lewis Hamilton reveals ‘lucky charm’ behind Ferrari milestone at Canadian GP

Lewis Hamilton described having his mum in the paddock as a “lucky charm” after a much-improved showing saw him score his first P2 for Ferrari.

With his mum Carmen Larbalestier watching on, Hamilton finished on the podium in Montreal in second place, even pulling off an excellent overtake on Max Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton says mum visit ‘lucky charm’ for Canadian GP

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Montreal trails only Silverstone and the Hungaroring for wins by Hamilton, and his skill at this circuit was evident once again with a rise from P5 on the grid to P2.

It was Hamilton’s 204th podium in the sport and his first since China, and he felt having his mum in the Ferrari garage motivated him.

His mum was also present in China where Hamilton recorded his first podium for Ferrari with a P3 on Mothers’ Day.

“It’s been a really cool weekend,” he said. “I get an apartment here and so my mom stayed with me. So, every night we’d have dinner together and we’d watch a movie or just sit up talking. It’s been awesome.

“And we’re going on a little bit of a trip for a couple of days, so I’m really excited about that.

“And to go on a positive result as well is awesome. So, I definitely need to, now she has to come, she’s clearly my lucky omen, my lucky charm, have her come every weekend.”

After a disappointing final year at Mercedes followed by an underwhelming debut season with Ferrari, Hamilton’s mood in Montreal was vastly different from the dejected figure fans have become used to seeing in recent times.

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Reflecting on the weekend, the 41-year-old spoke of how ‘deep’ he had to dig to muster such a performance.

“Had so much fun out there all weekend,” he said. “Every single lap, I felt like we started on the right foot, came with the right attitude and the car really generally felt great.

“And so, to come to Montreal, a track that I do love, and get to enjoy a Sprint weekend here, which is the first that we’ve had [here], was awesome.

“And this is my first second place with the team. It’s something I’ve been working so hard, I can’t even begin to explain how deep I’ve had to dig to be able to get to this point, and the work and moving mountains in the background to enable this sort of performance.

“But I’m really grateful to the team for continuing to hold me up high and support me weekend in, weekend out. And it’s a really lovely feeling to see them so happy, because they truly deserve it with all the hard work they put in.”

Hamilton’s podium elevated him to fourth in the Drivers’ Championship on 72 points, just three behind his teammate Charles Leclerc in the race to join Mercedes on the season’s podium.

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