Hamilton produced his best performance yet as a Ferrari driver at the Canadian Grand Prix, while Leclerc endured arguably his toughest race weekend in five years. Hamilton outperformed his teammate consistently throughout the event in Montreal, securing second place and demonstrating competitive pace in both qualifying and race conditions.
In contrast, Leclerc struggled from the opening practice session onwards, battling a lack of rear confidence, tyre temperature issues and persistent discomfort with the SF-26.
The contrast between the two Ferrari drivers became increasingly apparent as the weekend progressed. Hamilton remained composed and competitive despite the limitations of the car, while Leclerc appeared unable to unlock his performance potential except in brief moments during the race.
Hamilton delivers strongest Ferrari showing so far
Hamilton arrived in Montreal after making a significant change to his preparation approach. The seven-time world champion revealed before the weekend that he had not used Ferrari’s simulator, even though simulator preparation is usually considered essential for Sprint format events.
“A good idea could be to go back and do a correlation analysis with this weekend, to understand where the gaps are with the simulator,” Hamilton explained after the race.
“Will I use it to prepare for another race? Probably not. The risks are simply too great. It’s a tool that can be very powerful. But I’m old school. I’m probably better off without it.”
The results supported Hamilton’s assessment. He finished ahead of Leclerc in both qualifying sessions by approximately one tenth of a second, securing an impressive second-place finish on Sunday.
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Hamilton maximised the Ferrari car
Despite the circuit being expected to expose Ferrari’s weaknesses, Hamilton remained relatively close to Mercedes’ pace during the race. When Kimi Antonelli’s late-race speed was factored in after George Russell’s retirement, Ferrari’s overall deficit to the leading Mercedes package was estimated at more than four tenths per lap.
Nevertheless, Hamilton maximised the potential of the SF-26.
Perhaps most importantly for Ferrari, Hamilton’s race pace finally appeared competitive. Since joining the Scuderia, managing races and tyre degradation had often been among his biggest difficulties.
In Montreal, however, Hamilton held an estimated advantage of around one and a half tenths of a second per lap over Leclerc during the opening fifty laps.
“This weekend, I opted for a different setup after carefully analysing the data and collaborating closely with my engineer,” said Hamilton.
“I was finally able to take all the corners aggressively.”
Leclerc struggled with grip and cold conditions
While Hamilton thrived, Leclerc never looked comfortable with the car. The Canadian circuit has historically been one of the Monegasque driver’s weaker venues, alongside tracks such as Melbourne and Shanghai. The rear-limited characteristics of Montreal have rarely suited Leclerc’s preferred setup philosophy, and the unusually cold conditions only worsened the situation.
Throughout qualifying, telemetry data revealed a constant lack of rear stability. Leclerc repeatedly struggled with traction and confidence when accelerating, which led to costly mistakes at Turns 3 and 4 during Sprint Qualifying, and another error at Turns 8 and 9 in Q3.
“Since FP1, I haven’t had a car where I could feel the car,” Leclerc admitted after qualifying.
“I just had the feeling of hitting the wall in every single corner. Today the tyres were completely out of control; yesterday it was the brakes.”
The colder track conditions hurt Leclerc even more once Ferrari switched to the medium compound tyre during the race. With ambient temperatures around 13°C and track temperatures at just 18°C, Leclerc found it very difficult to get the C4 tyre into its ideal operating window.
By contrast, Hamilton appeared to be driving a completely different car once the tyres had reached temperature.
Frustration boiled over during the final stint
The first phase of the race remained relatively close between the Ferrari teammates, especially while they were both running on soft tyres. However, as the race progressed and the conditions became more challenging, Hamilton steadily pulled away.
During the opening twenty laps of the medium-tyre stint, he gained approximately three tenths of a second per lap over Leclerc. By the final stage of the race, Leclerc’s frustration was clear to hear on the team radio.
“Let’s stop talking until the last lap. Only critical messages, otherwise keep quiet,” he told race engineer Bryan Bozzi.
Leclerc’s difficult weekend
From lap 49 onwards, Leclerc’s pace dropped dramatically despite the fact that track conditions were improving. Having secured fourth place, the Ferrari driver appeared to switch off mentally as he unsuccessfully searched for confidence in the car.
“I need to understand what’s happening to me on this track and why I haven’t had a feeling since the beginning of the weekend, with no improvement,” Leclerc said in his final radio message.
“Even in the final laps, when I’m a second and a half slower on purpose, I still have moments of snap because I don’t feel the car. Let’s look at everything and reset for Monaco.”
Despite the difficult weekend, Leclerc still collected 16 valuable championship points, compared to Hamilton’s 21. However, the performance gap itself was a rare occurrence. In dry races over the past five seasons, Leclerc has only been outpaced by more than a tenth of a second per lap on three occasions.
Montreal may ultimately represent a turning point. Hamilton appears increasingly comfortable with the SF-26, while Leclerc now faces important questions ahead of Monaco — a circuit where his natural strengths and the lower importance of engine performance could enable him to bounce back.
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Thiago Treze is a Brazilian motorsport writer at TJ13 with a background in sports journalism and broadcast media, alongside an academic foundation in engineering with a focus on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). This combination of technical knowledge and editorial experience allows Thiago to approach Formula 1 from both a performance and narrative perspective.
At TJ13, Treze covers driver performance, career developments, and key storylines across the Formula 1 grid, while also analysing the technical factors that influence competitiveness. This includes aerodynamic development trends, simulation-driven design approaches, and the engineering decisions that shape race weekend outcomes.
His reporting bridges the gap between human performance and machine development, helping readers understand how driver execution and technical innovation interact in modern Formula 1. Coverage often connects on-track events with the underlying engineering philosophies that define each team’s approach.
With a global perspective shaped by both journalism and technical study, Thiago also focuses on Formula 1’s international reach and the different ways the sport is experienced across regions.
Treze has a particular interest in how Computational Fluid Dynamics and aerodynamic modelling contribute to car performance, offering accessible explanations of complex technical concepts within Formula 1.
