Equal treatment fought for: Hamilton’s special memory of Montreal

– For Lewis Hamilton, the Canadian Grand Prix will always be a very special place, as it was here that the current Ferrari driver celebrated his first Formula 1 victory. Hamilton had just entered the top class with McLaren in 2007 and had, at the time, probably the toughest teammate imaginable in Fernando Alonso.

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Nevertheless, Hamilton performed more than impressively and was able to finish on the podium in each of his first five Grands Prix. What was missing was the victory – but that was to come in Canada.

Hamilton still remembers well: “That was the first time I came to Montreal – a track I had followed and enjoyed watching on TV over the years,” he says.

“I had arrived in Formula 1, and as a rookie competing against a world champion, it was tough,” he says. “Fernando was so talented and so damn fast. But I am extremely ambitious. So instead of telling myself, ‘You’re a rookie, just be happy with second place,’ I could never accept that.”

“I always wanted to push myself, I wanted to fight. I wanted to win, and that was an overwhelming feeling.”

Although things went very well for him in the first races, Hamilton always felt somewhat at a disadvantage: “They always gave Fernando a lighter fuel load during refueling, so the cars were separated by two laps (during the pit stop window; editor’s note),” he recalls.

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At that time, this meant a disadvantage in qualifying, because in Q3 the cars were always fueled with the amount of fuel for the first race stint.

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“For me, it always felt like I had to work twice as hard, if not harder, because Fernando was so fast. I always had to be at least a tenth of a second or a bit faster than him just to be ahead of him,” says Hamilton.

“I fought so hard to get the same amount of fuel. I said, ‘Just give me the chance and I’ll show you what I can do.’ And at this race, they gave us the same fuel load: I took pole position and won the race. They did it for this race and immediately afterwards in Indianapolis as well.” By the way, Hamilton also won there.

“That’s why it was a very special moment for me, because I fought for something I firmly believed in – and when they gave me the chance, I confirmed that belief,” he says. “And the rest is history.”

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