Hamilton feels – Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari’s changes to his engineering team have him feeling “like myself” after a strong Montreal weekend. He qualified P5 in both the Sprint and Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix, beating Charles Leclerc on both occasions, with Hamilton pointing
Montreal has been kind to Lewis Hamilton — and he sounded genuinely relieved about it.
Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix. Hamilton walked through Saturday’s qualifying with one message that kept landing in the same place: he feels better inside the work. inside the car. inside his own rhythm. After changes to the engineering setup around him, the seven-time World Champion described the difference as something personal, not political.
“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,” Hamilton said after Qualifying in Montreal.
It came as Ferrari’s week unfolded into one of Hamilton’s strongest weekends of the 2026 season so far. He qualified P5 for both Saturday’s Sprint and Sunday’s 70-lap Grand Prix — and did it again and again in a way that matters in a team where every tenth is measured.
Hamilton out-qualified his teammate, Charles Leclerc, each time.
Since Hamilton’s move to Ferrari at the start of 2025, he has faced criticism linked to a lack of results. In Montreal, he tried to answer that pressure with something more immediate: stability. He said he doesn’t want to reshuffle his team again — he wants the current setup to keep doing what it’s now doing.
“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,” he added.
Saturday’s pace looked promising. Hamilton was strong during Qualifying, but the lap that should have pushed him closer to the front also carried a sharp moment. An error on the exit of Turn 7 sent him over the grass.
It left him P5, still within striking distance of pole — less than three-tenths away.
Then came the other variable hanging over the weekend: weather. With rain a looming threat for Sunday’s 70-lap race, Hamilton said he could see a path for Ferrari to challenge those ahead — the Mercedes and McLaren drivers.
“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,” Hamilton said.
He explained that he caught part of the loss back, but the lap still slipped onto the edge.
“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.”
For now. Hamilton’s Montreal looks like a mix of progress and unfinished business: a P5 that still feels close. a teammate that’s being out-qualified for once. and a race that could swing dramatically if the rain arrives the way he expects — turning a “great” feeling into something sharper on Sunday.
Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Canadian Grand Prix Montreal Charles Leclerc 2026 season Sprint engineering team Straight Mode rain