Lewis Hamilton radio message pinpoints moment 53-race driver potentially cost him Canadian GP podium

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Lewis Hamilton missed out on a chance to score his first Grand Prix podium of the 2024 Formula 1 season in Canada after dropping out of contention in the closing stages.

The dramatic race featured changing conditions between wet and dry throughout, with Hamilton starting from seventh on the grid after a poor qualifying.

Mercedes showed improved pace over the weekend after introducing a new front wing to both cars, with Hamilton’s teammate George Russell earning pole after setting an identical time to Max Verstappen.

Hamilton and Russell would later tussle for position in the closing stages of the race, but it was the latter who had the superior pace to earn a podium spot.

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The costly moment for Lewis Hamilton during the Canadian Grand Prix

Although Hamilton managed to make progress as the race progressed, two key moments went wrong which shaped his race result.

Below is a transcript of the radio messages from F1.com between Hamilton and his engineer, Peter Bonnington, before his last pit stop.

The most costly moment came on Lap 46 when he was held up by Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu in his 53rd F1 race at Turns 3 and 4, following a critical pit stop for the seven-time world champion.

Replays show the Sauber parked on the apex of the corner, with Hamilton gesticulating over how slow he is going, and aggressively having to drive to the left to avoid him.

Hamilton lost over three and a half seconds compared to his previous lap through the incident, at a time when drivers were gaining seconds per-lap after switching to slick tyres. This meant any advantage he would have built up by switching early to slicks was lost, thereby impacting his overall podium chances.

Lewis Hamilton vents frustration over tyre choice

Hamilton was frustrated even further when the Safety Car was deployed and he was told by Bonnington that he did not have another new set of medium tyres available.

Most teams expected to run a Medium-Hard-Hard strategy if the race was fully dry, and when Hamilton had a free pit stop he was fitted with a set of Hards to go until the end. Meanwhile, his teammate Russell had a set of mediums, automatically making him quicker at the restart.

Even though Hamilton got ahead of Piastri and Russell after the Safety Car, the mediums came alive for his teammate and enabled him to come back in the final laps and deny him his first podium finish of the year.