Lewis Hamilton had his best result with Ferrari at the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula 1. According to the team’s former engineer Rob Smedley, the achievement also psychologically shook Charles Leclerc, as he finished the race more than 30 seconds ahead of the Monegasque.
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The seven-time world champion started ahead of his teammate for the second time this year and confirmed his strong performance during the race in Montreal. The seven-time champion also won a battle with Max Verstappen to secure second place, while Leclerc finished only fourth.
After qualifying, Charles was harsh in assessing his own performance by saying it “was one of the worst weekends of my career, maybe the worst.” And even finishing fourth in the race, the Monegasque stated that the result was better than the feeling he had in the car throughout the weekend.
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Then, the statements caught the attention of Smedley, former Ferrari engineer. “Lewis always delivers something special in Montreal. He was faster than Charles, and that got into his head, because suddenly he started saying he had the worst weekend of his Formula 1 career,” he said on the High Performance Racing podcast.
Smedley also pointed out that Leclerc’s reaction could have been different if Lewis had not been so far ahead. “Clearly, if Lewis had been three positions behind, I don’t think Charles would have described the weekend that way,” he added.
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