Sky Sports F1 Podcast: Lewis Hamilton’s disappointing Canadian GP analysed by Damon Hill and Naomi Schiff

After Lewis Hamilton described the Canadian Grand Prix as “one of the worst races” of his career, the Sky Sports F1 Podcast analyse what is going wrong for the seven-time world champion.

Hamilton ended Sunday’s race in fourth to claim his highest finish of the season but left Montreal feeling that he had underachieved after Mercedes finally provided him with a car capable of challenging for victory.

Having appeared to be the fastest driver on the track in final practice, Hamilton’s hopes of victory slipped away as a poor final qualifying run left him starting from a hugely disappointing seventh on the grid as his team-mate George Russell took pole.

Despite climbing to third in the closing stages before being overtaken by Russell, Hamilton was downcast after the race.

He told Sky Sports F1: “It was over the weekend just a really poor performance from myself. Yesterday, some other things came into it, but mostly myself.

“Then today, just one of the worst races that I’ve driven. Just lots of mistakes. But of course, if I’d have qualified better I would have been in a much better position.

“It is what it is. I will go back to the drawing board.”

Russell has now holds an 8-1 qualifying advantage over Hamilton this season, while the latter has finished ahead of his team-mate at just two races.

The surprising gulf in form between the pair comes in Hamilton’s final season with Mercedes before he joins Ferrari next year, after the announcement of the blockbuster move stunned the sporting world in February.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Naomi Schiff and 1996 world champion Damon Hill analyse the possible factors behind Hamilton’s slump.

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Schiff: Hamilton won’t be comfortable with Russell deficit

Naomi Schiff believes the psychological hangover of controversially missing out on the 2021 drivers’ title has impacted Hamilton, along with an inevitable deterioration of his relationship with Mercedes ahead of his move to Ferrari.

“I think if we could take this back to what happened in Abu Dhabi in 2021, coming back in 2022 with a car that was not able to get revenge, for lack of better words, was probably really frustrating for Lewis. And I can imagine how, from a psychological perspective, that may have bogged him down a little bit. It was a lot to come back from. To not be able to really have your say immediately must have been tough.

“I think 2023, I felt that it was turning around. You could see that he was a little bit happier, a little bit more confident and a little bit more himself again. But for whatever reason, coming into the season, that seems to have gone away. And now, it’s 8 -1 that he’s been outqualified by George, so that is not going to be very comfortable for Lewis.

“You could see that already in Monaco that there was some weird body language and Lewis saying that he was not going to out-qualify George for the rest of the season. So, I don’t know if there’s also a whole new layer or a psychological aspect that’s coming in with essentially what is like a divorce between Lewis and the team.

“It’s going to happen throughout the season and inevitably he’s going to start being left out of important meetings. George is going to be the preference for the team in terms of new car parts. But, obviously, he’s also ahead of him in the championship, so that would be the case anyway.

“All these sorts of things are going to plant a little bit of a layer of doubt, both in the team’s head and Lewis’s head of what game are they playing? Has Lewis checked out? Is he still on board? So, I think both of them are going to have to try to do whatever they can.

“I know that there’s a sentiment from Mercedes and Lewis that they want to end this on a high. I think they both really feel that way. There’s so much respect between the team and the driver, but the reality of it all is, when that doubt starts to creep in, can you maintain that relationship with the team?

“It’s got to be hard, but I hope that we’ll see him reset. I don’t know if that’s going to be when he gets to Ferrari next year, what it’s going to take, but it would be great to see him have somewhat of a comeback and be fighting for victories again.”

Hill: My last F1 season was like swimming through treacle

Damon Hill compares completing his final season in F1 after announcing his retirement to Hamilton having to drive a full season for Mercedes, knowing he is joining Ferrari in 2025.

“One of his worst races is probably way better than most people’s other races so he’s always got that to play with.

“It’s just going to be very difficult because he’s not part of the project for next year. It’s nice that he thanked the team, he made a point of thanking them for bringing through the developments, and so forth. But he will not be enjoying the fruits of whatever they put in this year for next year.

“It’s a difficult one. As for how you race, the only thing I can perhaps relate to is when I decided to retire, and I decided in the middle of the season that I wanted to end at the end in my season in 1999, I had the rest of the season to complete before I could stop. And it was like swimming through treacle. It was just so difficult to drag yourself through that.

“Bernie Ecclestone famously said that when a driver decides to retire, when they see the red light, they should stop immediately. And the problem with this announcement that came out with Lewis was it came out before they’d even done a race.

“I wonder whether that was that was something that leaked out and they had to kind of get it out because normally driver announcements happen around the time of Monza in September, but we seem to be creeping earlier and earlier through the season before they pull the trigger on things like that.”

Formula 1 heads back to Europe as the championship moves on to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix. Watch every session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from June 21-23 live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime