Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton finished P2 at the F1 2026 Canadian GP. He delivered his best result for the team since he joined and beat old rival Verstappen in an on-track battle.
Hamilton lined up P5 on the starting grid, behind both Mercedes and McLarens, and next to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Initially, the Dutchman managed to get ahead of the Brit, taking P3, as Russell and Antonelli fought ahead.
Still, Hamilton climbed to the top 3 after Russell was forced to retire due to technical issues. The Ferrari driver took the opportunity and, with 12 laps remaining, cut down the gap to Verstappen. Even struggling for top speed, Hamilton was finally able to capitalize on the Red Bull driver harvesting into turn 1.
After collecting 18 points at the Canadian GP, Hamilton currently sits P4 in the drivers’ championship. With 72 points, he is 3 behind his teammate Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton praises Ferrari for the team effort behind his P2 at the Canadian GP
During the track interviews, hosted by his former teammate Heikki Kovalainen, Lewis Hamilton gleamed as he thanked his team for the result.
“Yeah, well, firstly I have to say a huge thank you to my team here. Grazie. These guys have welcomed me with open arms, and it’s been pretty tough over the past year and a bit, so to finally find our sweet spot and have a good weekend has really been an amazing feeling.”
He added: “To be back up here, especially with these guys being so quick, and I actually got to have a race with Max, which is great. And we’ve got an amazing crowd here, so that’s super cool.
“I’m so happy. I love this track. I can’t wait to come back.”
When asked about how encouraging the result is for the rest of the season, Hamilton claimed, “I think it’s definitely encouraging, given that this weekend, if you look, Mercedes brought a big upgrade. A lot of people brought upgrades here. We brought our big one in Miami and the team are working really hard back at the factory.
“We’ve got hopefully some other bits coming along the way and considering this is a real straight-line-speed circuit and we just managed to hold on and get this result, that definitely gives me high hopes for what’s ahead, but we’ve got to keep pushing and keep trying to extract more.”
Hamilton “had so much fun out there all weekend”
After the podium celebrations, Hamilton insisted on how happy he was about his 11th podium in Montreal.
“Yeah, had so much fun out there all weekend. 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.”
The Brit reinforced his gratitude to Ferrari. He reflected on how hard he worked to get to where he is now after many struggles since joining the Scuderia in 2025.
“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 explains what changed since the Miami GP
In the previous race, Miami, Hamilton had managed a P6, +53.753s behind the lead. When asked about what made the difference at the F1 2026 Canadian GP, he said: “The prep before.
“I chose a different set-up this weekend through just ciphering through the data, working really well with my engineer. He’s absolutely awesome and I’m really loving working with him.
“My number two did a fantastic job this weekend and helped me really pull more performance out of the car, getting into a much sweeter place. And I was able to attack all the corners finally.
“And as I said, there’s a lot of changes that I’ve had to ask for, and Fred’s been super supportive and again also moving mountains in order to make me comfortable. It’s finally starting to show in my performance.
“So, thank you to the team,” he echoed.
“Absolutely awesome to fight with one of the greats” — Hamilton on his battle with Verstappen
The final laps of the 2026 Canadian GP hosted a 2021 flashback as Hamilton hunted down Verstappen for P2.
On how it felt to fight the four-time world champion, Hamilton said: “It was awesome. Absolutely awesome to fight with one of the greats.
“It was massively challenging. I think our cars are relatively close, I would say,” he explained: “You see him in qualifying, we were relatively close. And I think whilst we’re probably a little bit quicker through the corners, everything you gain in the corner, they gain on the straight. And very challenging behind him.
“Obviously, I lost a bit of time, he was quicker at the beginning of the race and then once he got into the medium, I was able to hunt him down. And I love that hunt. That’s my whole life has been about that since a kid, since I had a really old go-kart, I was just always hunting.”
He summed up: “So, it was amazing to be back in that position and hunting down a champion up ahead.”
“I was just having to do these calculations”: Hamilton on overtaking at the 2026 Canadian GP
While he enjoyed the fight, Hamilton claimed it was “unbelievably difficult”. He explained he had to be “so strategic” because he had less power than the others around him.
Hamilton described how he had to mentally figure out when to overtake because of the unpredictable amount of power in his battery.
“Even if we have the overtake, even in overtake they still have more power in the straights.
“So, finding a way, I was just having to do these calculations, trying to figure out how to maximise the amount of power on my battery bar each straight and make sure that I have enough at that particular point. And, yeah, thank God I managed to pull it off.
“And it’s a great feeling when you overtake as well. So, these cars are awesome to be able to follow.”
Hamilton on lack of power ahead of F1 2026 Monaco GP
During the press conference after the F1 2026 Canadian GP, Hamilton was asked about his complaints of a lack of power during the race. While he struggled in Montreal, the next race is Monaco, where power is not as important, giving Ferrari a potential advantage.
On the possibilities for Monaco, Hamilton said: “I mean, that’s the one track that power is not king. I think that’s definitely car performance. I think our car could be really strong there.”
He promised: “I’m really going to focus on making sure I arrive with the same energy as I had this weekend, really study hard with the engineers to make sure we position the car in the right place from Practice 1.”
On Ferrari’s chances over Mercedes, Hamilton added: “And, yeah, if you take away the power deficit, we’re in the fight with these guys.”
Still, the Brit driver went back to the lack of power during the Canadian GP.
“But unfortunately that’s not the way it is today. And I think in the moment I’m like, ‘I need more power somehow,’ because I’m able to hold on or keep up with them through the corners and I can’t push the pedal any further.
“And you see them just eking out the straight and you catch them back in the brakes, they eke it out in the straight. It’s really hard. Even when you get the overtake, you get within a second, they still pull away. So that’s how much grunt that they have, and we’re massively down.
“But I really hope with this new rule that enables us to try to improve some performance, so we can get back in the fight with them.”
Hamilton concluded: “But Monaco should be fun.”
