Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton feels encouraged with changes made to his engineering team, expressing “I really feel like myself” ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.
The seven-time World Champion is enjoying one of his strongest weekends of the 2026 season so far in Montreal, qualifying P5 for both Saturday’s Sprint and Sunday’s Grand Prix – out-qualifying team mate Charles Leclerc each time.
Having faced some criticism since his move to Ferrari at the start of 2025 due to a lack of results, Hamilton believes he has now established a strong team around him which means he can get the best out of himself.
“Honestly, for me, my engineering team is now just where I need it and we’ve finally got the car this weekend in a place where I really feel like myself, and I really hope that continues,” said Hamilton after Qualifying in Montreal.
“I don’t need to change up my team, we just need to keep on working and do what works for me. I’ll prepare the same for the next race and hopefully we’ll be a bit better next race.”
Hamilton looked strong during Saturday’s Qualifying session, but an error on the exit of Turn 7 meant he went over the grass, leaving the Briton P5 but less than three-tenths from pole.
But with the threat of rain looming over Sunday’s 70-lap race, Hamilton was optimistic that it would present Ferrari with an opportunity to challenge the Mercedes and McLaren drivers ahead.
“I was feeling great up until the last lap. Basically, I did a good prep, I came out of the last corner to start the lap and didn’t get the SM [Straight Mode] on and by the time I realised into Turn 1, I was down two tenths,” said Hamilton.
“I caught some of it back but then had that wide moment. When you’re pushing and trying to get everything out it can be on the knife-edge.
“But the car was feeling good and the team did a really great job, so I hope tomorrow when the weather is better, when it’s raining, hopefully we have a good chance.”
