Lewis Hamilton ‘ecstatic’ with ‘overwhelming’ Canadian GP podium

Lewis Hamilton was “ecstatic” to return to the podium with third place at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Briton jumped ahead of Fernando Alonso, whose decision to run long in the first stint backfired, and would have the pace to hold off teammate George Russell following a Safety Car.

For Hamilton, it has been a rollercoaster weekend after what he called a “disaster” in practice on Friday before an “amazing” P4 in the wet qualifying on Saturday.

And after the race, the seven-time world champion admitted this result meant a lot.

“It’s quite overwhelming to get this third place,” he said. “There has been such a battle this year with the car and as a team, but we continue to stay vigilant and never give up.

“That is something I am so proud of and I am inspired by my crew. So, thank you to everyone here and back at the factory.”

Throughout the race, Mercedes showed a level of pace similar to Barcelona, where they were only a few tenths a lap slower than the Red Bulls and Ferraris.

And Hamilton was pleased by the progress made during the weekend.

“They are a little bit too quick for us,” he conceded. “I was giving everything but we are getting closer and we just need to keep pushing, pushing and we will get closer to these guys.

“I could just about see them at the end. Honestly, our pace was quite good, especially in the second stint. We did a lot of work in the simulator and here to get the set-up right.

“I am ecstatic. My second podium of the season.”

As for teammate George Russell, he made some early places through the midfield to claim P4 as he made up for the mistake to try slicks in Q3 in qualifying.

And he too was buoyed by another promising race in terms of pace albeit acknowledging still a little way off the leaders.

“I had total confidence that we would have been able to carve our way passed the two Haas’ and the Alpines,” he said. “We were certainly concerned that Leclerc and Perez would be able to come through.

“Fortunate to keep them behind us. Our pace was certainly closer to Ferrari and Red Bull than we have seen all season although the inherent pace isn’t there.”

The big Mercedes story all weekend has been the level of bouncing following the FIA’s directive on Thursday, and Russell confirmed it was still an issue in the race.

“It was bumpy out there. We weren’t porpoising just bouncing down the straight hitting the ground,” he explained.

“The revisions that the FIA brought this weekend with the extra floor stay did nothing hence why we didn’t race it. The angle of it didn’t allow it to hold the floor up. This global issue of the car is far from over.”