- Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth in Canada after finding his happy place.
- Ferrari adjustments helped Hamilton outqualify teammate Leclerc in Montreal.
- Setup breakthrough gives Hamilton forward momentum for Sunday’s race.
Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari have finally put him in a place where he can drive like his old self again after qualifying fifth for the Canadian Grand Prix.
Not front-row place yet, but for a driver who has spent much of the season chasing Charles Leclerc and searching for his happy place, this is the clearest sign so far that something may finally be clicking.
Hamilton told Formula1.com after qualifying in Montreal that his engineering side is now “just where I need it” and that he has finally got the Ferrari into a window where he feels like his former self. Hamilton qualified fifth for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix, and beat team-mate Charles Leclerc in both sessions.
Hamilton, while down in fifth, is close enough to the front to feel like he is now part of the battle for podium places. He ended quali on a 1:12.868, less than three-tenths away from George Russell’s pole time, even after a mistake on his final run.
No sim works for Lewis
That doesn’t make Ferrari the benchmark in Montreal – they still lack straight-line speed – but it does make this one of Hamilton’s cleanest and most convincing weekends of the 2026 season so far.
Hamilton has decided to step back from simulator preparation after feeling it had been sending Ferrari in the wrong direction on setup. Canada appears to be the first weekend where that change has translated into a visible improvement across the whole weekend.
Hamilton appears to have found a better working rhythm with Ferrari and his garage. Ferrari have spent much of the year looking like a team with pace in flashes but with too little consistency across both cars and both drivers. If Hamilton is now more comfortable with the SF-26, Ferrari have a better chance of turning one-car weekends into a double threat.
But Montreal has been tricky for Leclerc, who called this the worst weekend of his career after qualifying only eighth, while Hamilton sounded more settled than he has in months. For fans, that makes Sunday’s race more interesting, because Ferrari now arrive with their two drivers telling very different stories about the same car.
Ferrari still lacking straight-line speed
Hamilton’s first Ferrari season in 2025 brought more noise than results, and even in 2026, Leclerc has usually looked like the faster over a single lap. Canada has been different, though. Hamilton has been competitive from the start of the weekend, looked more at ease in the car, and has spoken openly of being in a better place with the car.
Ferrari’s wider problems persist, though. Mercedes still locked out the front row in Montreal, McLaren remain firmly in the fight, and Hamilton himself admitted a small error cost him a shot at something better than fifth. Even so, this is the first time in a while that Hamilton’s Ferrari story has forward momentum.
The obvious test is whether Ferrari can convert this all into race pace, strategy execution and points on the board. Hamilton suggested rain could give Ferrari an opportunity on Sunday, but that remains to be seen.
If he can gain places from fifth and back up these positive comments with a strong finish, this weekend will start to look like a real turning point.
