Hamilton: ‘P4 has never felt so good!’

Hamilton
has
endured
a
frustrating
season
in
2022,
with
the
seven-time
world
champion
struggling
to
adjust
to
his
new
car.

On
Friday,
after
a
poor
practice
session,
Hamilton
said
“it’s
like
the
car’s
getting
worse”.

However,
Hamilton
will
now
look
to
build
on
Saturday’s
impressive
qualifying
display
after
securing
fourth
on
the
grid
in
Montreal
for
Sunday’s
race
–
his
best
qualification
result
of
the
season.

After
finishing
behind
Max
Verstappen,
Fernando
Alonso
and
Carlos
Sainz,
Hamilton
told
Sky
Sports
F1:
“I
feel
amazing,
so
happy
–
P4
has
never
felt
so
good
to
be
honest.

“Maybe
in
my
first
year
of
racing,
in
2007,
when
I
got
my
first
P4
it
probably
felt
great
then,
I
think
this
probably
feels
like
that.
Particularly
because
it’s
been
a
really
difficult
year,
to
go
through
what
we
were
faced
with
today,
it
was
difficult
for
everyone
out
there.

“I’m
so
happy
to
put
us
in
a
position,
because
everyone’s
working
so
hard,
constantly
facing
these
challenges
with
this
car.

“We
did
a
lot
of
work
yesterday
to
try
and
get
the
information.
The
car
didn’t
feel
that
great,
so
tomorrow
should
be
a
much
better
position.
Hopefully
I
can
try
and
hold
position
at
least.”

Now
that’s
an
exciting
grid
order
for
Sunday
????#CanadianGP
#F1
pic.twitter.com/D70cm9LENg

—
Formula
1
(@F1)

June
18,
2022

Saturday
has
not
altered
Hamilton’s
disappointment
with
his
car,
however,
but
he
has
full
faith
in
the
Mercedes
engineers
to
get
things
clicking.

“With
this
car
you
need
everything
and
more
to
come
together,”
added
the
37-year-old,
who
is
sixth
in
the
drivers’ standings.

“I
like
to
think
that
I
have
rhythm,
and
on
this
track
in
particular
you
have
to
have
rhythm.
I
feel
this
car
works
on
a
completely
different
beat.

“It
doesn’t
work
on
the
normal
beat
so
that’s
been
difficult
to
get
used
to.
The
rain
makes
it
much
different,
if
it
was
dry
I
don’t
know
if
we’d
have
been
in
this
position
but
the
rain
opens
up
opportunities
and
I
love
this
track.

“It’s
been
a
struggle
so
far,
there’s
still
a
lot
of
work
to
do,
but
I
hope
all
the
team
are
feeling
positive.
Please
continue
to
push,
I
need
you,
we
need
you,
we’re
all
working
as
hard
as
we
can
and
I
believe
in
them
so
much,
I
hope
at
some
stage
we
can
stop
this
bouncing
and
move
forwards.”

Hamilton’s
team-mate
George
Russell
endured
a
frustrating
Q3,
however.

Russell
went
out
on
slick
tyres,
but
that
decision
backfired
when
he
lost
control
and
ultimately
had
to
settle
for
P8.

He
told
Sky
Sports
F1:
“It
was
high
risk,
high
reward.
It
was
literally
just
turn
one,
I
think
had
that
been
as
dry
as
the
other
corners
we
could
have
been
in
a
really
good
place.

“Surprised
my
lap
was
only
half
a
second
off
P4,
so
it
shows
the
strong
pace
today,
but
as
I
said
on
the
radio
I’m
not
here
to
settle
for
P4,
P5
–
we
need
to
try
things.

“At
the
end
of
the
day
the
points
are
tomorrow,
I’m
glad
we
tried
something
different.”