Lewis Hamilton was unhappy with how things turned out for him at the recently concluded Canadian Grand Prix. Despite a three-place improvement, Hamilton lamented about his performance in Montreal and termed the race weekend as one of his "worst races."
The race weekend started brilliantly for Hamilton. The seven-time world champion delivered a clinical performance in FP3, followed by a great run in Q2. However, he dropped back in Q3, resulting in him qualifying in P7 on Saturday.
However, the Briton kept his nerve and battled his way up to finish P4. He narrowly missed out on the podium to teammate George Russell. Statistically, this race weekend was Mercedes' best weekend so far, but for Hamilton, things were different.
"Over the weekend, it was a really poor performance from myself," Hamilton said to Sky Sports F1 during the post-race media interview. "Some other things came into yesterday, mostly myself, but today was one of the worst races I’ve driven."
Hamilton spent a considerable amount of time in the race behind Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso. However, towards the latter stage, the 39-year-old rediscovered his mojo and took himself near the leading pack of the race.
Hamilton was racing with the DRS train of Lando Norris, George Russell, and Oscar Piastri. In the end, he overtook Piastri but failed to keep Russell at bay. On this, he added:
"Just lots of mistake, but of course, if I’d qualified better, I would’ve been in a much better position so, it is what it is."
Lewis Hamilton fails to beat George Russell once again
![F1 Grand Prix of Canada MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JUNE 09: Third-placed George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes celebrates with his trophy on the podium after the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 09, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/06/c4f88-17179821102946-1920.jpg?w=190 190w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/06/c4f88-17179821102946-1920.jpg?w=720 720w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/06/c4f88-17179821102946-1920.jpg?w=640 640w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/06/c4f88-17179821102946-1920.jpg?w=1045 1045w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/06/c4f88-17179821102946-1920.jpg?w=1200 1200w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/06/c4f88-17179821102946-1920.jpg?w=1460 1460w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/06/c4f88-17179821102946-1920.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/06/c4f88-17179821102946-1920.jpg 1920w)
While Lewis Hamilton finished the Montreal race in a respectable P4, going by his words, it certainly did not make him happy. Once again in Canada, Hamilton was the second-best Mercedes driver.
In Montreal, Russell helped the Silver Arrows have their first pole position of the season on Saturday, followed by the first podium of 2024 on Sunday. The 26-year-old was in firm control of the race following the start.
However, the former Williams driver made a couple of mistakes while pushing to the limit and went wide. This resulted in him losing time and conceding his position to Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
Nevertheless, towards the end, George Russell snatched the P3 from Lewis Hamilton in the penultimate lap in a fierce wheel-to-wheel battle. With this, he further extended his Driver's Championship lead against Lewis Hamilton to 14 points.