Fed-up Lewis Hamilton has described his Mercedes car as the worst he has ever driven at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Hamilton has won seven times around the Montreal circuit but cut a disconsolate figure after the first two practice sessions on Friday, in which he finished eight and 13th. The seven-times world champion had been hoping his team had made improvements to his car and made it a smoother drive after suffering severe back problems in Azerbaijan last weekend.
Instead, Hamilton endured another torrid day in what is becoming a nightmare 2022 season. He said: “Whatever we do on this car to improve it just makes it more unhappy. One touch of the kerbs here and the car goes flying, it's so stiff - and here in Montreal, you really need to ride the kerbs.
“It's not the Montreal that I'm used to and that I've driven throughout my career - it's the worst I've felt any car here. You are putting on a momentous fight just to keep it out of the wall, you're catching a car that's jumping. It definitely keeps you on edge.”
After Hamilton’s and George Russell ’s car bounced their way around Baku last Sunday, the Mercedes team ‘lifted’ the chassis of their cars ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.
But Hamilton said it had no positive effect. “We raised the car but it didn't make any real difference,” he declared. “It was pretty much like every Friday, experimenting with lots of things.
Where do you think Lewis Hamilton will finish the 2022 F1 campaign? Let us know in the comments section.
“We tried a new floor on my car which didn't really work and it seems a lot of things we try on this car struggle to work. We experimented with very different set-ups on the two cars in FP2 just to try and see if one way works and one way doesn't. We have to keep working, it is what it is.”
Hamilton, 37, trails Russell in the drivers’ standings and had been out-qualified by his team-mate in the last three races. And while Russell, 24, shared some of Hamilton’s frustrations after the first two practice sessions of this weekend’s Grand Prix, he was more upbeat than his running partner.
Russell said: “It's fun to drive around this circuit, it's old-school and very challenging, with the cars bumping over the kerbs. Our performance wasn't where we wanted it to be, we're quite a way off the pace to the front two teams and there's also a couple of guys - Fernando [Alonso] and Seb [Vettel] - who look very strong, so we've got work to do.
“We need to qualify ahead of the mid-field, we have a strong race car which is probably the third quickest but if we allow one or two cars in front of us, that could make things tricky.”
Hamilton's seven wins in Canada tie him level with Michael Schumacher as the most decorated driver in the race's history. His chances of breaking clear of the German in the foreseeable future appear dim, however.
Russell has yet to finish outside of the top five on race day this year but Hamilton has struggled badly. And after finishing well over a second behind practice pacesetter Max Verstappen in the first two sessions at Montreal, this weekend is not looking any better for him.
