Lewis Hamilton finished third in Montreal. It is his second podium finish this season – having earlier finished third in Bahrain
Lewis Hamilton was tipped as one of the favorites to win the F1 World Championship ahead of the 2022 season. However, as things stand Hamilton finds himself low down in sixth place on the drivers’ championship leaderboard. Hamilton’s team Mercedes has had no better fortunes and occupies third place in the constructors’ championship, behind the leading teams Ferrari and Red Bull.
After a third-place finish in Bahrain, Hamilton failed to make it to the podium in any of his next races until yesterday at the Canadian GP.
Does the third-place finish in Montreal mark a change of fortune in Hamilton’s favor for the remaining part of the season?
Hamilton fans will be hoping that things are finally back on track. However, it will be interesting to see if Hamilton can consistently challenge the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers for podium places from here on.
Hamilton himself is confident that Mercedes will gradually close the gap on the two leading teams, Red Bull and Ferrari. “They’re a little bit too quick for us at the moment. I was giving it everything but we’re getting closer. So we’ve just got to keep pushing. Hopefully will be in a fight with these guys”, the 7-time F1 champion said.
Lewis Hamilton says his podium at the Canadian Grand Prix has given him hope that Mercedes can return to competitiveness this year. “It has given me a lot of hope there is more to come from this car, that the potential is truly there if we can get the set-up right,” Hamilton said.
Before Montreal, Hamilton had been out-qualified by team-mate George Russell for three consecutive races and had not finished ahead of him since the first race of the season in Bahrain.
Hamilton finished only seven seconds behind race-winner Max Verstappen, as the Red Bull driver held off a late charge from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, and there were times during the race when he was matching the leaders’ lap times. That’s a positive sign for the Brit and the time gap is certainly manageable in the upcoming races.
Formula One heads to Silverstone next for the British Grand Prix on July 3, where Hamilton has the most wins with eight.
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