Charles Leclerc commends Lewis Hamilton’s ‘incredible’ performance at Canadian Grand Prix

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Charles Leclerc says there was no way he could match Lewis Hamilton’s performance levels at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Hamilton was ahead of Leclerc throughout the weekend, an exceedingly rare occurrence since they became teammates at the start of 2025. His second-place finish was his best result as a Ferrari driver.

Leclerc passed Hamilton at the end of the Sprint race on Saturday but was behind him in both qualifying sessions. The Monegasque, who suffered a half spin during the Grand Prix, finished well over 30 seconds and two places behind.

Kimi Antonelli wins his FOURTH race in a row at the Canadian Grand Prix! How good do his title chances look now?

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Charles Leclerc: Lewis Hamilton’s Canada performance gives Ferrari hope

Speaking to Sky Sports in the media pen, Leclerc said Hamilton extracted the maximum from the SF-26. Kimi Antonelli extended Mercedes’ 100% winning record, beating his predecessor by just under 11 seconds.

Ferrari are hoping to gain access to ADUO – Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities – after this race. The FIA are about to measure the gaps between the engine manufacturers.

Still, Leclerc says Hamilton’s performance gives the Scuderia reason to be optimistic, particularly on a weekend where Mercedes brought their first major upgrade of the year.

He said: “What was possible in the car? I think Lewis did an incredible job. I don’t think there was much in the car if you look where Lewis is today. Second was the very best we could do as a team. I couldn’t achieve that this weekend, 100%.

“To try and win races, we need those developments. To be honest, if I look at Lewis more than me this weekend, as a team we’ve been relatively competitive, if you see that Mercedes have brought a completely new package.”

Charles Leclerc explains why his Montreal weekend was a ‘nightmare’

Reflecting on his own uncharacteristic performance, Leclerc said he had been dealing with the same problem ever since Friday’s solitary practice session.

He suffered from a lack of confidence and sub-optimal tyre pressure throughout the weekend. A frustrated Leclerc told his engineer not to speak to him during the race unless it was critical, but took responsibility for his struggles.

The gap between the two Ferrari drivers in the championship is now down to just three points (75 vs 72).

“I think there’s no blame to put on anyone else other than me, honestly,” he said. “It’s been a nightmare of a weekend. I’ve been struggling like crazy. Since FP1, the problem has been the same and unfortunately, I couldn’t find a solution.

“Confidence is everything on a track like this with those bumps and putting the tyres in the right window is everything. I thought that today, in the race, with multiple laps, it would be a lot better, but I never put the tyres in the right window, and I had zero confidence.”