Hamilton: “I will be the seventh winner of the season”

Lewis Hamilton arrives very full of energy on the eve of the Canadian GP: on a track he loves, the Englishman wants to aim for the victory that he still lacked this year, even if he is aware that uncertainty reigns supreme this season.

Despite having zero victories, with six different drivers winning the first six races of the season, the McLaren standard-bearer is still a short distance from the top of the Drivers' Championship, just 13 points behind leader Fernando Alonso. “This is turning into a truly unique season, one in which each race presents new challenges and different outcomes”, Hamilton explained. “Even if not everything went well for us, I am sure that the team and I are doing everything we can to fight for victory every weekend. I know that the results we all want will come soon: I'm doing everything I can to extract every tenth from the car, and I know that the guys on the track and the men and women in the factory are doing everything they can to give me a car that is in capable of winning. We are still chasing our first win in this world championship and I can't wait to put that chase to rest in Montreal, which is one of my favorite races of the season.".

But Canada is a particular track: not very technical but ambiguous, very fast in certain points and very slow in others, with some areas at risk for the mechanical parts due to the walls dangerously close to the ideal trajectory, such as the infamous "wall of champions" just before the finishing straight against which many big names have crashed in past years. “The contrasts between Monaco and Montreal could not be greater in fact”, continues the Briton. “Even though they are both races taking place in the middle of a city, the circuits are very different and each has its own unique personality. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a fantastic track: it's super-fast in some sections, which means it requires finesse and precision but you can also end up battling wheel-to-wheel with rivals at 330mph too, it's an incredible feeling. However, you also need a car that can handle a low traction speed, because all parts of the straight are generally preceded by hairpin bends, so it is important that you can take advantage of the acceleration boost. It should be an exciting Grand Prix race even if we will use a single DRS zone after last year's double zone."

Last year, Hamilton was the protagonist of a fratricidal clash with Jenson Button, who then overtook Sebastian Vettel and overtook him on the last lap after an incredible race due to rain and accidents. “On paper, I think our car is well suited to the slow-fast combination: in Spain on the Barcelona track we showed that we are very good in the fast corners, but we were also fast in the last sector, which is slower and more technician. Of course, it is still difficult to predict the result exactly, so I will focus on the possibility of scoring as many points as possible from a world championship perspective.", concluded the McLaren driver.

Lorena Bianchi