“My tires were for some reason below temperature”: Lewis Hamilton puzzled by his qualifying woes in Canada

Lewis Hamilton claimed that his tires throughout the whole Canadian GP were below optimal temperature, a factor that proved to be a hindrance for him. The Mercedes driver looked like he was back to his best as he was the fastest driver in the FP3 session on track, where he had previously won on seven occasions, including his maiden win in 2007.

However, he fell behind his teammate George Russell heading into the qualifying session and eventually qualified in P7. In the main race as well, he displayed some outstanding race craft that saw him finish in P4 but he was second-best to Russell, who got the final podium position.

Speaking with F1.com, Hamilton mentioned that he wasn't entirely happy with the result as he spoke about his troubles generating tire temperatures in the cold conditions in Montreal, saying:

“Well, the tires were working throughout the weekend, then we got to qualifying and every time I went out of the garage, my tires were for some reason below on temperature.

“Every set was two or three degrees lower than it should have been, and you can’t catch it up and I couldn’t switch the tires on after that. That’s something we have to really look at because something went on with the blankets, I guess.”

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Lewis Hamilton analyzes 'one of his worst races' after finishing P4 in Canada

Lewis Hamilton stated that the main race on Sunday was 'one of the worst' he has experienced, as he believes that he couldn't make an impact inside his W15.

Speaking with Sky Sports, the seven-time world champion said:

"I'm not feeling much different. It was over the weekend just a really poor performance from myself. Yesterday, some other things came into it, but mostly myself. Then today, just one of the worst races that I've driven. Just lots of mistakes.

"But of course, if I'd have qualified better I would have been in a much better position. So it is what it is. I will go back to the drawing board. I think this weekend the car was capable of winning. So that's why it's not such a great feeling. But we'll take the points and keep moving, keep trying."

However, the Mercedes driver was complimentary of the team and its efforts and gave a "big thank you to everyone back at the factory." He expressed his gratitude to the back-room staff for improving his car and making it a force to be reckoned with.

The result was Lewis Hamilton's best of the 2024 season, as he had previously finished P6 in Miami. He had further finished an impressive P2 in the Chinese GP Sprint where once again the wet conditions displayed his guile behind the wheel.