Canadian GP: Lewis Hamilton plans to stick with not using Ferrari simulator after Sprint Qualifying | F1 News

Lewis Hamilton says not using Ferrari’s simulator is “the way forward” for him after his performance in Canadian Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying was encouraged.

Hamilton looked the closest competitor to Mercedes for much of the session, but made a small mistake in his final run that left him fifth on the grid in Saturday’s short race.

But his effort was still good enough to beat Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc for the first time since the second round in China in any race time on the track.

After besting Leclerc in the last two races in Japan and Miami, Hamilton confirmed on Thursday in Montreal that he was not using a simulator ahead of this weekend’s event.

“That’s the best qualifying session we’ve had in a long time,” Hamilton said. “Really good work with the engineers, the set-up changes, the car felt really good from P1, and we made subtle changes to the qualy.

“The SQ1 and SQ2 looked good, and I don’t know why some people like to show off a little bit, I don’t know.

“But I’m just happy to be in the fight. I had a lot of fun out there. And, again, the fact that I didn’t do a sim, and it was the best I’ve felt all year, so I think that’s the way forward for me.”

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has been an exciting hunting ground for Hamilton as he took his first pole position and victory at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix.

Ferrari did not expect to challenge the front this weekend as they are not improving, while Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull have new parts in their cars.

But, Hamilton says the three-week gap since the last race has given Ferrari a chance to “sort out the details” and understand their car.

“I’ve found that there’s a lot that’s very beneficial about one thing, I’ve been able to focus on training and not be distracted,” he said.

“And the second part is like fine-tuning the stability of the ride, with the balance of the wheel and the balance of the machines.

“And I chose a setup that I haven’t used before and it changed the car for me, so hopefully that will go well for the rest of the weekend.”

Leclerc stated that he was “having a hard time with the brakes” which he did not understand or had an effect on him not speeding up on Friday.

“I was not at all comfortable with the car, we have to look at it closely and try to find something tomorrow otherwise it will be a long weekend,” he said.

“With the brakes, I go into the corners hoping that I don’t end up going straight. That’s the big problem. Other than that, the car feels good.

“Lewis has been incredibly fast this weekend but I need to work on the brakes. Hopefully we can turn things around.”

Verstappen: My feet were slipping on the pedals

After an encouraging weekend in Miami, Red Bull was more than half a lap away from Sprint pole-sitter George Russell and Max Verstappen was unhappy in seventh place with steering during practice and suggested his car was not handling the curbs and bumps as it should.

Verstappen, who was a tenth ahead of teammate Isack Hadjar, said he was “not surprised” by Red Bull’s lack of pace.

“My feeling in the car was not good at all,” said the four-time world champion.

“I was struggling when I was driving. I couldn’t put my foot down, my feet were flying off the pedals. It was making it very difficult not to shift.

“That’s what we have to investigate. We’re stuck with that at Sprint. I hope it gets better [race] It’s worth it.”

The fast-banking McLarens begin to beat Mercedes in the Sprint

The biggest weakness of Mercedes this season has been the start of the races as only one of the six started in the Sprints and the Grands Prix has one of the Silver Arrows leading after the opening corners.

McLaren were the best starters, along with Ferrari, so Lando Norris in third and Oscar Piastri in fourth headed into the first few hundred meters to jump ahead of the Mercedes front row.

“Our starts have been better than the Ferraris all year,” said Piastri.

“I am sure that there is still time for Mercedes to compete with them but until then we will try our best to take advantage.”

McLaren brought the second part of their development from Miami to Canada but chose not to run their new wing in Sprint Qualifying.

Norris admits he was “a bit worried” following practice and was surprised McLaren managed to fill the second row.

“The car feels decent. Some things are probably very questionable but this is a strange track, it handles very low. You jump,” he said.

“You don’t get a true representation of everything and it’s hard to back up what we get in the wind tunnel.

“We need more time with some parts and we will present them again next week or in Barcelona. But the other car was working well. It’s a good step forward.”

Canadian GP schedule for Sky Sports F1

Saturday May 23
2.40pm: F1 Academy Race 1
4pm: Canadian GP Sprint build-up
5pm: CANADIAN GP SPRINT
6.30pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook
7pm: F2 Sprint*
8.10pm: Competency building for Canadian doctors*
9pm: CANADIAN GP QUALIFYING*
11pm: F1 Academy Race 2*
11.45pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*

Sunday May 24
3.40pm: F1 Academy Race 3
5pm: F2 Feature Race
7.30pm: Canadian GP build-up: Sunday’s Grand Prix*
9pm: THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX*
11am: Canadian GP Reaction: Checkered Flag*
12am: Ted’s Book*

*Also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 is in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and another Sprint weekend. Watch live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race at 9pm. Stream Sky Sports NOW – no contract, cancel anytime