Montreal: Lewis Hamilton returns to his happiest stomping ground this weekend when he seeks to extend his World Championship lead with a record-equalling seventh triumph at the Canadian Grand Prix here.
The defending four-time champion, who leads nearest rival and fellow four-time champion Sebastian Vettel by 14 points after six races, claimed his maiden Formula One win at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2007. Since then Hamilton has added five more wins including a hat-trick of Mercedes triumphs in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Hamilton’s pole success last year enabled him to equal three-time champion Ayrton Senna’s record of 65 pole positions, a feat that saw him presented by the Senna family with a helmet worn by the great Brazilian.
That display of emotion confirmed Hamilton’s unchallenged supremacy in Montreal, but he faces a much more difficult challenge from rivals this weekend as the leading teams take their scheduled revised second engines of the season.
Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff said: “We expect a number of teams to take their second power units, including all the Mercedes cars. We are pushing for more performance as soon as possible.
“We can see that we are in a stronger position in both championships than we were 12 months ago, but we know the battle is more fierce with ourselves, Ferrari and Red Bull in contention every weekend.”
Hamilton is also aware of the competition this time around. “It has been a tough battle through this season and I expect it to be the same again,” he stated.
The 33-year-old Briton, who loves spending time in North America arrived here Tuesday night after visiting California, reportedly to check on his dogs Roscoe and Coco, and New York.
Hamilton will know Vettel and Ferrari remain a serious threat in what is expected to be a far more entertaining affair than the dull procession in Monte Carlo, even if Kimi Raikkonen faces a potential distraction after a Canadian waitress filed a lawsuit against him for touching her inappropriately in 2016. The Finn, 38, has denied the claims and filed a counterclaim.
