Lewis Hamilton addresses the 18-month drought since his last win in Formula 1

Lewis Hamilton feels it's all about perspective when talking about his 18-month gap since his last win in F1.

The driver last won a race during the intense and emotionally charged 2021 F1 championship campaign. In an intense battle, he was able to beat his rival in the controversial 2021 F1 Saudi Arabian GP and head to the last race of the season level on points.

Since then, Lewis Hamilton has not had the opportunity to stand on the top step of the podium. Part of it has to do with Mercedes not having a good enough car to challenge Max Verstappen and Red Bull. The other factor is teammate George Russell winning the race in Brazil last season.

During the pre-race drivers' press conference, Lewis Hamilton was questioned by Simon-Olivier Lorange of La Presse if the drought raised pressure on him. The British driver said that it was all about perspective at this stage. He said:

"Yeah, I don't feel any weight. We've gone through a tough patch and we're kind of, like, on that up. And I feel that there's been a feeling of like… For example, the last race and some of the races, it feels like we've had wins. It's just about perspective."

He added:

"Of course, we've not been in first place but there have been many wins in the steps that we've taken. Last race, for us, as a team, to be on the podium with both drivers, that was a win for us."

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We've got the best development rate: Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton further backed Mercedes to compete with Red Bull. He claimed that his team arguably have the best development rate on the entire grid. He added that gives him confidence about the team joining the battle at the front, saying:

"And so we're just focused. We know, as I was just saying earlier, that we have that north star. We know where we need to go. We don't know everything of how to get there but we know that together we can get there if we just keep our heads down and focus on the science."

He added:

"The engineering team is fantastic within the organisation. We've got great development team and I honestly think we've got the best development rate, as good if not better than any team in the sport and so you’ve just got to keep chipping away."

Lewis Hamilton comes to Canada on the back of an impressive P2 finish in Barcelona and will be hoping to keep up the strong form of the last race.