Mercedes engineers have discovered why Lewis Hamilton was so good at Canadian GP
Mercedes believe Lewis Hamilton’s management of tyre temperatures was crucial to his runner-up finish at the Canadian Grand Prix last weekend. Hamilton, driving for Ferrari this season, secured his best result in Canada since switching teams, finishing behind Kimi Antonelli who crossed the line first by a margin of just under 11 seconds. The result came in the wake of George Russell’s retirement and a controversial tyre gamble by McLaren that did not pay off.
The race unfolded on a cold Sunday, with ambient temperatures around 11 degrees, making the track surface unusually frigid for a Grand Prix. Oliver Bearman, Haas’s rising star, described the race as among the coldest on record, a factor that influenced strategic choices across teams. The decision by several outfits to start on intermediate tyres, despite a mostly dry surface, highlighted the unique cold-weather challenge. The intermediates were chosen under the expectation that some moisture would be required to keep the green-marked tyres functioning, even though the track would not sustain them for long durations.
Mercedes’ internal assessment, reported by Auto Motor und Sport, indicates that their wheel rims have been optimized to use brake heat to warm the tyres. This approach appears to have given Hamilton an edge, allowing him to push the tyres into their operating window more efficiently than many of his rivals. The publication notes that Hamilton’s temperatures were marginally higher than those of his team-mate and opponents, a detail that translated into improved performance on the medium compound compared with the softer option.
In the race, Hamilton initially found himself under pressure from Max Verstappen, who overtook him on lap nine. Hamilton quickly responded, using the more easily warming medium tyres to claw back ground and retake the position on lap 62. The ability to extract temperature from the tyres and maintain grip under cool conditions was a defining factor in his performance, according to Mercedes’ data and post-race analysis.
However, questions remain about whether this result was a product of the weather anomaly rather than a sign of sustained improvement. The Canadian GP’s unusually cold conditions do not reflect typical race climates and subsequent events in Monaco, Barcelona, and Australia are expected to see temperatures three times warmer. This discrepancy raises questions about whether the current performance surge is repeatable in warmer venues, where tyre behaviour and temperature management could play out differently.
Hamilton’s teammate, Charles Leclerc, was several seconds behind the leaders, finishing more than 30 seconds adrift. Leclerc endured a momentary half-spin during the race, an incident that briefly compromised his chances and underscored the challenging conditions the drivers faced. The performance gap between Hamilton and Leclerc suggests that Hamilton was operating at a higher level of tyre management and overall race pace, but observers caution against overinterpreting a single race as a definitive trend.
As Hamilton continues to adapt within Ferrari’s lineup, the team’s philosophy around tyre management and chassis tuning remains central to their strategy. The cold-weather Canada performance has sparked renewed discussion about the durability of certain tyre compounds under lower temperatures and how teams can maximize grip when the track is reluctant to heat tyres quickly. Mercedes’ engineers have signalled that the emphasis on waste-heat-assisted tyre warm-up could become a cornerstone of their approach in other races characterized by cooler climates.
Looking ahead, analysts will be watching how Hamilton and Ferrari translate this Canadian performance into results across warmer venues. The coming races in warmer conditions will test whether the advantages seen in Montreal are transferable or merely a product of atypical weather. For Hamilton, the key question is whether his tyre-temperature strategy can be consistently replicated when temperatures rise, or if the Montreal performance marks a temporary peak driven by environmental factors rather than a permanent improvement in pace.