Since making significant updates to its car at the Monaco GP, Mercedes has gained confidence heading into the F1 season. Lewis Hamilton achieved this Sunday during the Canadian GP the team’s fourth podium in the championship, despite losing strength in the fight with Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, and assessed the team’s difficulties after the race.

– Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough pace. We knew it all weekend, it wouldn’t be our best circuit because we struggle with the slow corners. That’s where I lost to Fernando (Alonso) and Max (Verstappen), just in terms of traction coming out of turn 2 and almost everyone else. We have some work to do to add more aerodynamic load to the car and a little more efficiency. Max was far away today, but we are going in the right direction – he commented.

Hamilton started from third place in the race, benefiting from Nico Hulkenberg’s punishment in the stage classification – the German exceeded the speed limits under a red flag. At the start, the Mercedes driver overtook Alonso and took second place. However, he got revenge from his rival.

The seven-time champion attempted to close in on his rival after his second pit stop towards the end of the race, when he switched from hard to medium tires; on lap 62 of 70, Lewis closed to within 2 seconds of two-time champion Aston Martin, who was using older hard compounds. However, he failed.

Aston Martin lost second place in the constructors’ championship to Mercedes during the Spanish GP, the stage which preceded the Canadian race. For this weekend, he brought a big package of updates: he changed the chassis, the sidepods (side air outlets), the floor and the front wing.

For Hamilton, the changes allowed the British team to once again occupy a place alongside leader RBR. But the seven-time champion remained positive, leaving Montreal still second among manufacturers:

– Honestly, it was a great weekend for us. I believe we are making progress little by little. Aston Martin has taken a small step forward with the update package. But we are working to make more progress there in the future.

Of Mercedes’ four podiums in 2024, three have come from Hamilton – two second places at the Australian and Spanish GPs and the third in Montreal this Sunday. George Russell, who retired after a fall, returned to the race and suffered brake failure, has already finished third in the Spanish GP.