The Hamilton factor that 'got inside Leclerc's head' in Canadian GP weekend

The seven-time world champion, who failed to score a single podium during his debut season with Ferrari, has raised the bar this year and rediscovered some of the class and brilliance that defined his career. Hamilton has already secured two podium finishes in the opening five races of the campaign, underlining his strong start to the season. Following his podium in China, the Briton delivered another impressive weekend at one of his favourite venues, Montreal, a circuit where he has enjoyed considerable success throughout the years and claimed victory on seven occasions.

This time, victory did not arrive, but Hamilton's second-place finish was worth almost as much. On paper, the SF-26 was expected to struggle on the long straights of the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit, making Ferrari's result all the more impressive. The Briton also comfortably outperformed team-mate Charles Leclerc, who endured a difficult weekend and went as far as describing it as one of the worst of his career, despite still managing to bring the car home in fourth place.

Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Smedley praised Hamilton's display in Montreal and suggested the Briton's pace may have had a psychological impact on Leclerc. The former Ferrari engineer pointed to the fact that Hamilton was consistently quicker throughout the weekend, arguing that this likely contributed to Leclerc's unusually harsh assessment of his own performance. In Smedley's view, the Monegasque's frustration was amplified by being beaten by his team-mate, and he doubted Leclerc would have described it as the worst weekend of his Formula 1 career had Hamilton been further down the order.

Steiner, however, holds a very different view. While acknowledging Hamilton's strong performance, the former Haas team principal dismissed suggestions that a single standout weekend is enough to alter Ferrari's internal pecking order.

In his opinion, Leclerc's struggles were the result of an unusually difficult race rather than a sign of a changing dynamic within the team, and he expects the Monegasque to quickly return to his usual level. Steiner stressed that Leclerc remains one of the grid's elite drivers and argued that it would be premature to conclude that Hamilton has now established himself as Ferrari's leading driver based on one impressive result alone.