'One of my worst races,' says Hamilton after missing podium

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said Sunday he had driven “one of the worst races” of his long career by finishing fourth behind Mercedes teammate George Russell at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Hamilton said he believed his car was capable of winning, but made a lot of mistakes in his 341st race, in which Russell passed him in the final laps to take his first podium this year. year on one of his favorite tracks.

“Over the weekend it was a poor performance from me,” he said. “Other things came into play yesterday, mainly myself, but today was one of the worst races I have driven. Lots of mistakes.

“Of course, if I had qualified better, I would have been in a better position…

“But it's becoming a car we can fight with and that's really positive for the next part of the season. It's going to be a close battle and if I take the lead again I'll get better results.

“I think this weekend the car was capable of winning. It's such a great feeling, so we'll take points and keep trying.

Hamilton holds the joint record of seven wins and six poles at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve where he took his first victory, with McLaren, in 2007.

Russell, who started from the second pole position of his career and the team's first since Hamilton's pole in Hungary last year, said: “It feels like a missed opportunity. We were very fast at the start in the inters, then Lando came very quickly, but then we came back on the slicks and made some mistakes, pushing the limits and paid the price.

“Still, it was our first podium of the year, we had a very fast car and to be back in the pack fighting for victory, that’s what F1 is all about.”

Asked about his two daring late passes on McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Hamilton, Russell added: “It was quite close with Oscar and Lewis at the end. It was a difficult but fair race.

“It’s so difficult when there’s only one dry line, so you have to commit and trust your rivals.”

Team boss Toto Wolff said he was happy with the team's recent progress, despite not taking a first victory since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

“A victory was perhaps a long-term dream or a short dream, but we must not be too greedy. The car has taken a good step forward and the direction of development is true.

He added that he was not sure whether Red Bull had “taken a step backwards”, but that “the most important thing” is that their performance advantage was diminishing.

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