Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver Lewis Hamilton was overjoyed to take such a comprehensive win in Canada on Sunday, after the previous round in Monaco left the triple world champion and the German squad puzzled as to why they were so below par on performance.
Having worked hard to understand the problems in-between races, no such issues were prevalent in Montreal, and after setting a blistering early lap in qualifying to take pole position on Saturday, the Brit cruised to a strong victory on race day.
“It’s been such an incredible weekend. I just couldn’t be happier with how it’s gone and I’m so grateful for this result.
“We came away from Monaco and we were scratching our heads, but we pulled together and look what we achieved. We came here with a much better understanding of the car and we delivered a real blow to the Ferrari’s.”
Team-mate Valtteri Bottas was also able to comfortably stay ahead of the rest of the field, to bring home Mercedes first one-two result of the season.
“Valtteri did a fantastic job too and this is our first one-two finish together. We’ve scored a big load of solid points and it’s well deserved.”
Hamilton has always gone well in Canada, having taken five victories in Montreal prior to this weekend, which includes his first ever F1 win. This weekend’s result sees the Brit move to just one short of Michael Schumacher’s record of seven wins at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and one that he will likely surpass in the very near future.
“It’s crazy to think I had my first pole and win here 10 years ago. The race actually felt very reminiscent of 2007, in terms of how it unfolded.”
Having torn his hair out over tyre issues at recent races, Hamilton had all the confidence in the W08 this weekend, and it showed.
“It’s a long race here, especially when you’re out there on your own, but I knew the car would hold together and it did perfectly.”
