Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari ‘false dawn’ worry | F1 | Sport

Lewis Hamilton’s resurfaced “frustration” stems from his ongoing performance deficit to Ferrari talisman Charles Leclerc. That’s the view of British former Formula 1 racer Jolyon Palmer who sees this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix as a key moment for the seven-time world champion.

Hamilton came out swinging in Montreal on Thursday, dismissing recently resurfaced retirement rumours and insisting he has a contract for 2027. But what’s also certain is his annoyance after falling behind his team-mate again after an optimistic start to the new season. He beat Leclerc to the Chinese GP podium in March, marking his first top-three finish as a Ferrari driver.

But he’s been back off the Monegasque’s pace again in the races since and Palmer thinks it’s important he gets a handle on it at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve this weekend. “Lewis needs to just halt the slide, get close to Charles this weekend and we’ll be seeing happy Lewis. And then there’s a run of races where he can do well,” the Brit told Express Sport, via Lottoland Live Casino.

“I think the problem is for Lewis, if he’s a few tenths away this weekend, the next one for Ferrari, for everyone, is Monaco. And Leclerc is sensational in Monaco. Ferrari have a golden chance to win in Monaco because of the way that their car is. And I don’t necessarily see that as a chance for Lewis to get back on top of Charles. So I think Canada is the big chance for him.”

Every F1 driver is measured against his team-mate first and foremost and getting the better of Leclerc was never going to be an easy task. Hamilton joined after 12 years with Mercedes, forced to adapt to a new culture and way of working, while Leclerc has been part of the furniture at Maranello for years.

That, Palmer feels, is the crux of the frustration which resurfaced for Hamilton after an underwhelming performance in Miami earlier this month. And the former Renault driver and current F1 TV pundit has yet to see enough from Hamilton in red to suggest the 41-year-old is back to his best.

Palmer said: “It’s the main metric of measuring performance: How good are you compared to your team-mate? So any driver that’s getting beaten by their team-mate, you’re going to be frustrated, you’re going to be thinking that there’s more in there. Lewis can sometimes look happier when he’s fifth on the grid, but Charles is sixth, than when he’s fourth and Charles is third.

“Relative performance is important and it’s the same for any driver. Last year he got fairly squarely beaten by Charles. I just think for himself, he has to keep on that Melbourne-China run and show that he’s there, because it’s been a couple of years since we saw, I think, the true Lewis.

“In 2023, he was superb, signed the deal to go to Ferrari in the winter. In 2024, he was beaten by [George] Russell. In 2025, he was beaten by Leclerc. We saw signs at the start of this year that he could be back, but it’s whether those signs were a false dawn or whether he can cement them and be back to the best of Lewis.”