Lewis Hamilton was full of smiles after taking his Mercedes to a third place finish at the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix, stating that it feels like a win.
Max Verstappen took victory in Montreal, but Hamilton was quick throughout the race and after qualifying fourth on Saturday, he converted that into a podium finish.
“[Finishing third] is obviously different to a win, but I think it feels as good as that, in the sense that I got my first win here, and to be on the podium in front of the Canadian crowd, is great,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 after the race.
“I’ve had a fourth and a third [place finish], so a bit of consistency is coming back, finally. I know we can do better and I know we can do more.
“There is potential in this car, it’s not currently where we want it to be, but it’s just a really small working window and if you don’t get it perfect, it’s all over the place and that’s the really really hard thing to navigate through. I think we did a great job this weekend.”
Russell more pessimistic
There was a contrasting message in the other side of the Mercedes garage, as George Russell lamented the inherent lack of performance in the Mercedes car, despite his fourth place finish in Canada.
“I had total confidence that we [Mercedes] would be able to carve our way past the Haas and Alpine cars,” Russell said to Sky Sports F1.
“Ultimately our race pace was closer to that of Ferrari and Red Bull than we’ve seen all season, but the inherent performance just isn’t there yet.
“The pace was really strong on the first stint and the second really strong, and the final stint after the restart I just couldn’t get the tyres working.”
