Lewis Hamilton has said that Mercedes have found their “North Star” after the team secured a double podium finish at the Spanish GP.
The team have struggled to keep pace with Red Bull and Max Verstappen at the front of the pack, and have been beaten out to podium finishes by their engine customer Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso to the second best team on the grid this season.
Following a disappointing start to 2023 with both Hamilton and teammate George Russell significantly off the pace, the team was forced to abandon its design concept for their car after admitting that they had made a mistake with their development direction.
However, speaking to the media ahead of the Canadian GP, Hamilton said that the team’s first double podium finish of the year in Barcelona had helped reinvigorate the garage.
“Definitely a lot that we’ve been making progress with the car,” Hamilton said. “The last race was great, we have all been buzzing back at the factory and the whole team has this new energy and kind of feel, like we’ve got kind of a North Star.
“We know where we’re going. We know how to get there. So everyone was just grinding away and working as hard as possible.
“We generally don’t know whether this track suits our car, and the car’s characteristics, but the weather may change that, and we’ll see.”
Rain on race day?
The 2023 F1 Canadian Grand Prix is scheduled to take place after a two-week break from the last race in Spain between June 16-18. The event will be held at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal, known for its high-speed straights and tight corners.
Weather forecasts indicate mostly clear conditions on Friday, June 16, with a chance of late afternoon showers, partly sunny weather with a low chance of rain on Saturday, June 17, and a 25% chance of showers on the race day, Sunday, June 18.
