For the second time in this 2022 Formula 1 season, the seven-time world champion stood on the podium, thus ending a streak of seven appointments without tasting champagne, something that had not happened since the final part of the year 2013, when Mercedes still did not dominate in the hybrid era. For this reason, the Canadian Grand Prix was a balm in the form of Lewis Hamilton, who seems to have regained confidence in the German car after the change of rules to avoid porpoising by the FIA.
Despite being just one more podium among the 183 more he has garnered in his long career, his team welcomed him, especially after the seven-time champion’s misfortunes with safety cars and Virtual Safety Car throughout the course. The head of the Silver Arrows, Toto Wolff , even said a few weeks ago that what was happening to his driver was “bad luck”, but it seems that this race in Montreal has served to make up for it.
Speaking after the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit, the Austrian director said: “I think we are all very happy. We have achieved five podium finishes this year and we have seen glimpses of the performance we have, but it is far from our own expectations.” .
“So I think you have to take a podium finish as a good result, and above all on its own merits,” said Wolff. “I’m happy for Lewis [Hamilton], because he was hurt a lot in some of the races where, for example, the safety car went against him.
“There have been many races in which everything went against him, where he could have achieved a podium or a much better result, and it was not his fault, but the same bad luck, and to see him now there with nothing given away, it’s good to see “, assured the head of Mercedes.
“We are all in the right place, but still, as I said before, there is a lot of work to do,” continued the head of the German team, who want to fight for victories again. “I think we have to put more downforce on the car, and to do it with a car that’s not as low as we hoped, it’s something you can see, because they go higher, that’s where we have to find the performance.
The Brackley team is third in the constructors’ standings for this 2022 season after nine rounds, and they hope to take a step forward in the next round, in Great Britain, where they have achieved nine wins, eight since the hybrid era began in 2014 . .
“I hope so. Silverstone has been good to us in the past, and it’s the softest circuit for porpoising the bottom three, but it’s not Barcelona. So now we have to manage our own expectations and do our best, analyze the data and find sensible solutions, not just for Britain, but also for the future,” Wolff said.
“We have to be careful, there’s a lot of work we have to do to get back to the front, and we’re not there yet,” said the head of the team that has won the last eight constructors’ world titles.
