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Lewis Hamilton rolled out of sprint qualifying at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Friday in fifth place – which, given where Ferrari sits in the 2026 pecking order against a resurgent Mercedes, is about as good as the SF-26 was ever going to deliver around a power-circuit like Montreal.
More importantly to Hamilton, it felt like something had finally clicked.
The sprint qualifying session saw George Russell take pole for the Saturday sprint ahead of Kimi Antonelli, with Norris and Piastri completing the top four. Hamilton slotted in fifth, 0.361 seconds off the pace, with teammate Charles Leclerc a further tenth behind in sixth.
Not a headline result, but the feel of the car was a different story entirely.
Hamilton followed through on a plan he announced in the aftermath of Miami, where he expressed frustration that Ferrari’s simulator had been “sending me in the wrong direction.”
His preparation for this weekend was built entirely around data work with his engineers rather than any time in the virtual car.
After qualifying, Hamilton said: “It’s probably the best qualifying session we had for some time and, just really quick. Quick work with the engineers, setup changes. The car felt really fantastic from FP1 and we made just subtle changes going into, into quali. Q1 and Q2 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 the fight, you know? I was having so much fun out there.
“And also, the fact that I didn’t do the sim, and I feel this is the best I felt all year, so I think that’s the way forward for me,” he laughed.
He went further when pressed on whether the car had genuinely come alive:
“Yeah, we worked really 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 just focus on training and not be distracted, and then the second part is just like really going through it with a fine-tooth comb with, with ride stability, through corner balance and mechanical balance. And just finding… and I chose a setup that we have not used, I don’t think we’ve never used it actually before. So it’s transformed the car for me, so I hope that bodes well for the rest of the weekend.”
Hamilton had been leaning on Ferrari’s simulator more heavily during his time at Maranello than at any previous team, but skipped it before this year’s Chinese Grand Prix – where he earned his best result of the season so far, taking the podium – and that experience clearly shaped his thinking heading into Montreal.
Ferrari faces a challenge at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve regardless of setup gains, with the SF-26 down on straight-line power compared to Mercedes across the circuit’s long straights.
Fifth in the sprint grid is probably close to the ceiling. But Hamilton sounding like himself again: committed, expressive through the final chicane, running a setup the team has apparently never tried before. This matters more sometimes.
Continue reading...
More importantly to Hamilton, it felt like something had finally clicked.
The sprint qualifying session saw George Russell take pole for the Saturday sprint ahead of Kimi Antonelli, with Norris and Piastri completing the top four. Hamilton slotted in fifth, 0.361 seconds off the pace, with teammate Charles Leclerc a further tenth behind in sixth.
Not a headline result, but the feel of the car was a different story entirely.
What Changed Between Miami and Montreal
Hamilton followed through on a plan he announced in the aftermath of Miami, where he expressed frustration that Ferrari’s simulator had been “sending me in the wrong direction.”
His preparation for this weekend was built entirely around data work with his engineers rather than any time in the virtual car.
After qualifying, Hamilton said: “It’s probably the best qualifying session we had for some time and, just really quick. Quick work with the engineers, setup changes. The car felt really fantastic from FP1 and we made just subtle changes going into, into quali. Q1 and Q2 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 the fight, you know? I was having so much fun out there.
“And also, the fact that I didn’t do the sim, and I feel this is the best I felt all year, so I think that’s the way forward for me,” he laughed.
He went further when pressed on whether the car had genuinely come alive:
“Yeah, we worked really 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 just focus on training and not be distracted, and then the second part is just like really going through it with a fine-tooth comb with, with ride stability, through corner balance and mechanical balance. And just finding… and I chose a setup that we have not used, I don’t think we’ve never used it actually before. So it’s transformed the car for me, so I hope that bodes well for the rest of the weekend.”
Why Hamilton Soured on the Sim
Hamilton had been leaning on Ferrari’s simulator more heavily during his time at Maranello than at any previous team, but skipped it before this year’s Chinese Grand Prix – where he earned his best result of the season so far, taking the podium – and that experience clearly shaped his thinking heading into Montreal.
Ferrari faces a challenge at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve regardless of setup gains, with the SF-26 down on straight-line power compared to Mercedes across the circuit’s long straights.
Fifth in the sprint grid is probably close to the ceiling. But Hamilton sounding like himself again: committed, expressive through the final chicane, running a setup the team has apparently never tried before. This matters more sometimes.
Continue reading...
