Lewis Hamilton was fed up after qualifying for the Canadian GP. His TV interview with Formula 1 lasted 26 seconds, his conversation with the writing journalists only slightly longer. While his teammate George Russell had taken pole shortly before, the F1 record winner only put the Mercedes on seventh place on the grid.
He was the one who dominated the third free practice session, the dress rehearsal for qualifying. He beat Max Verstappen and George Russell by four tenths of a second. After his pole position, Russell himself admitted that he had found the key in Hamilton’s data after the third practice session.
Hamilton was accordingly perplexed after qualifying: “I was no longer really fast. When I entered qualifying, I lost half a second. I didn’t make any changes to the car. Suddenly the grip was no longer there.”
Hamilton’s Q2 time would have been enough for pole
“The tires didn’t work for me the whole session, the half-second lead from the third practice session was gone,” said the Briton angrily. But it doesn’t seem to have always been that bad: In Q2, Hamilton – like his teammate Russell – drove significantly faster than in the decisive Q3. Hamilton’s Q2 time would have been enough for pole.
Both Mercedes drivers completed their first attempt in Q3 – like all other drivers in Q3 – on used softs. After the first exchange of blows, Russell and Hamilton were in first and second place.
In contrast to the other drivers, however, both Mercedes drivers were unable to improve on fresh tires. While Russell’s time was just about enough for pole, Hamilton was pushed down to seventh place, just three tenths of a second behind.
Mistake costs Hamilton Canada pole
The data analysis shows that a mistake in the hairpin was Hamilton’s undoing. Up to turn 10 he was level with Russell. However, after a braking error in the hairpin he lost almost three tenths of a second on the long straight to the final chicane.
For Hamilton, it was already the eighth internal team defeat in the ninth qualifying of the 2024 Formula 1 season. The most successful F1 driver in history is considered both a qualifying and Canada specialist. Most recently, he caused a stir in Monaco when he himself doubted whether he would even win a qualifying duel against Russell this year.
Unlike in Monaco, Lewis Hamilton is also using the new front wing in Montreal, which Mercedes considers to be a paradigm shift. While the team had high hopes for the update, Hamilton was less optimistic. He admitted that he “definitely” did not expect the team’s overall strong performance in Canada.