The Mercedes driver finished fourth in Montreal after losing the final podium position to teammate and pole sitter George Russell, who slid on the inside at the final chicane in the closing stages.
Hamilton had started seventh on the grid after struggling to carry his from practice to qualifying and found himself bottlenecked behind Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso for much of the first half of the race, which took place in mixed conditions.
But after pitting his former teammate during the first safety car period, triggered by a Logan Sargeant crash, Hamilton held on to the leading pack and, after a second caution, was able to work his way ahead of Russell and McLaren’s Oscar. Piastri.
Russell’s medium tires proved crucial in the final moments as he returned to the podium and after taking his first top five of the season, as well as his podium in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race, Hamilton was asked if he was happier than 24 hours before after classification.
“It’s not much different,” he said of his feelings when speaking to Sky Sports F1.
“Over the weekend, I had a very poor performance on my part. Yesterday, other things came up, but mainly me and today, one of the worst races I’ve ever run, a lot of mistakes.”
“But of course, if I had qualified higher, I would have been in a much better position. So it is what it is, so I’ll go back to the drawing board.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsports Images
Despite his personal disappointment, Hamilton highlighted the step forward taken by Mercedes, with the Brackley-based team finding better performance thanks to a new front wing.
“Many thanks to everyone at the factory because it is becoming a car we can fight with. That’s the really positive thing going into the next part of the season.”
“I know that hopefully we’ll have more improvements down the road. So it’s going to be a close battle and if I’m wrong, I’ll get better results at some point.”
“I think this weekend the car was able to win. So it’s not a great feeling. But we’ll get the points and we’ll keep trying.”
On what he could have done to get more out of his weekend, the seven-time champion responded: “I could have driven better with fewer mistakes.
“I was stuck behind Fernando, so there was nothing I could do there. A lot of mistakes over the weekend overall, but a lot of positives to take in terms of performance, so I’ll try to improve for the next race.”
