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Lewis Hamilton has taken some flak in recent months regarding his approach to Formula 1 race weekends, but Ferrari’s analysis of Charles Leclerc’s form at the Canadian Grand Prix suggests the Briton was right all along.
The seven-time world champion beat his Monegasque teammate for the third time this season during the race weekend in Montreal, which gave him an advantage in the Ferrari head-to-head that was dominated by Charles Leclerc last year.
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Lewis Hamilton now leads it three to two, with his second-place finish also serving as his best result in the iconic red colours of Ferrari since he arrived at Maranello ahead of the 2025 campaign.
Heading into the Canadian GP race weekend, there was much talk about the 41-year-old’s lack of time on Ferrari’s in-house simulator, with F1 pundit Ralf Schumacher being a staunch critic of Hamilton’s decision to keep it on the back burner.
Charles Leclerc’s Canadian GP setup was based ‘exclusively’ on simulator data
While Hamilton had a very encouraging weekend in Montreal, the same can’t be said for Leclerc, who described it as one of his worst weekends in F1 since he joined the grid in 2018.
The Monegasque finished P4 at the chequered flag, which, on paper, is not a bad result at all. However, when looking at the final classification, he was nearly 34 seconds adrift of Hamilton at the end of the race.
From these numbers, it becomes clear that Leclerc was around half a second off his more experienced teammate over the entirety of the 68-lap Grand Prix.
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According to a report by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Ferrari’s ‘analysis’ of Leclerc’s form in Montreal pinpoints his choice of set-up as the leading factor in his deficit to Hamilton.
Interestingly, the set-up was ‘almost exclusively’ based on his simulator work ahead of the race, which proved to be ‘ill-suited’ to the cooler temperatures and grip that were present at the Quebec-based circuit.
The fact that it was a Sprint race weekend is understood to be the main catalyst as to why engineers followed the data from the simulator. With just one Free Practice session, it’s impossible to try out different options.
- READ MORE: Ferrari warned Max Verstappen will be on ‘high alert’ to upset Charles Leclerc at Monaco Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton was right all along about using simulator data in F1
During his pre-event comments to the press, Hamilton fielded several questions regarding his use of Ferrari’s simulator in Maranello.
The seven-time world champion highlighted how important the tool is for drivers, but also revealed that he has only felt the benefit of using it at one race weekend in his career: the 2012 Singapore GP.
Former McLaren teammate Jenson Button warned Hamilton about the dangers of skimping on simulator work, but his recent result may suggest that he is, in fact, taking the right approach.
The 41-year-old will no doubt be heading to Monaco with some newfound confidence in the SF-26, which will be necessary considering Leclerc’s previous prowess at his home Grand Prix.
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