Hamilton credits revised preparation after strongest qualifying display of season
23rd May 2026Lewis Hamilton believes a change to his preparation methods helped deliver his strongest qualifying performance of the 2026 season after securing fifth place on the grid for the Sprint race at Canadian Grand Prix.
Feature image credit: Pirelli
The Ferrari driver had told the press earlier in the weekend that he’d taken a different approach in build-up to his arrival at Montreal, opting against time in the simulator and instead focusing on analysing data from previous races to aid the car’s set-up direction.
This decision seems to have paid off immediately, as Hamilton showed impressive pace throughout the session and remained in contention near the front right to the end until eventually finishing behind the Mercedes and McLaren pairs.
Hamilton reflected on the session, praising Ferrari and the work he has done with his engineers from FP1 to Sprint Qualifying.
He said: “It’s probably the best qualifying session we’ve had for some time. The engineers did a great job with the set-up changes and the car felt really good from FP1. We only made small adjustments going into qualifying and it all felt quite positive.”
Russell hails Mercedes upgrade push after Canadian Sprint pole
Hamilton was consistently quick through SQ1 and SQ2, but admitted Ferrari still lacked the final step needed to challenge the front row positions.
“The pace looked strong through the early stages,” he continued. “Then the others seemed to find a bit more at the end, but I’m happy to be in the fight because that hasn’t always been the case this season.”
Hamilton’s admission that he’d abandoned his usual simulator programme become of the biggest talking points at Thursday’s media day.
Instead of using the simulator, Hamilton has spent time reviewing previous data in an effort to better understand the Ferrari package and identify a stronger direction heading into the weekend. The early results have left him optimistic that the revised approach could become a longer-term solution.
He added: “I was having a lot of fun out there. I didn’t do the simulator this week and this is probably the best I’ve felt all year, so maybe that’s something to keep looking at going forward.”
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Russell hails Mercedes upgrade push after Canadian Sprint pole
- Racing Bulls fined €10,000 for technical breach
- Antonelli leads Mercedes one-two in incident-filled FP1 at Montreal
- Liam Lawson referred to stewards for technical breach at Canadian Grand Prix
- “Absolute Bull***t” says Komatsu on Ocon rumours
- Lawson hopeful Racing Bulls upgrade can boost Canadian GP challenge
- Ocon denies Haas exit rumours ahead of Canadian GP
Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from ApexMotorsports.co.uk!
