Lewis Hamilton clinched a much-needed podium in Montreal as he finished P3 at the Canadian GP. The Briton struggled with his W13’s set-up initially during the practice. However, Lewis seemed to be a completely different driver as he qualified for P4 on Saturday. Starting fourth on the grid, Lewis Hamilton managed to gain a position after taking Fernando Alonso, who started second. Eventually, the seven-time world champ secured his second podium of the season after Bahrain. Hamilton finished seven seconds behind race leader Verstappen after Yuki Tsunoda’s crash into the barriers triggered a late safety car during Lap 49. Meanwhile, his teammate George Russell continued his top-5 finish streak with a P4 at the end of the race in Montreal.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner insisted after the race that Hamilton almost matched the pace of frontrunners Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. However, the two-time world champ Alonso had different views to Horner’s theory and believed that Lewis was well off the pace compared to the race leaders. Horner claimed that Mercedes was almost as quick as the frontrunners for the most part of the race in Montreal. He shared that everyone had a lot of work to be done, and one swallow would not make the summer. The Red Bull team principal added, “We saw the swallowing Barcelona. But somehow it flew somewhere else.”
Morover, Christian claimed that Red Bull was the fastest car at times. He believed that Lewis and George almost matched the frontrunners during the second stint. However, Fernando Alonso did not agree with the Red Bul boss’ theory about Hamilton and Mercedes.
Alonso Disagrees To Horner’s Hamilton Claims
Alonso claimed after the race that he found it easy to keep Hamilton behind in the early stages of the race. Moreover, he did not think Lewis was a match for Verstappen and Sainz at the front. The Alpine driver shared that he felt pretty strong compared to Hamilton at the start. His car just did not have the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari. However, Fernando felt it was okay to control Hamilton and the Mercedes.
However, fans will have to wait and see if Mercedes continues their progress the next weekend in Silverstone. Both Mercedes drivers would be driving on their home circuit, hoping to get the Silver Arrows their first race win of the season at the British Grand Prix. The biggest challenge that the German team will have is to counter or limit the effects of porpoising, which has been extremely painful and risky for the drivers despite finding some much-required pace in Canada.
Apparently, the long four straight at the Silverstone circuit could pose to be a major problem for the Mercedes. Hamilton dealt with pain following the race in Baku, and his presence in Canada was questionable. Thus, Lewis and Russell might have to struggle with the worse effects of porpoising at the fast Silverstone track if the Silver Arrows do not find a concrete solution in the two weeks before the race.