Lucky? Hamilton narrowly avoids a grid penalty

– Although Lewis Hamilton starts the Canadian Grand Prix in fifth place, a possible penalty for the seven-time champion was temporarily under consideration. After all, he briefly stood in Pierre Gasly’s way during qualifying.

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The Ferrari driver encountered the Alpine driver in Q1 on his fast lap at turn eight. Hamilton emphasized to the stewards that at that moment he did not know Gasly was on a fast lap.

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Nevertheless, Gasly qualified for Q2. Accordingly, there was no penalty for the most successful Formula 1 driver in Grand Prix history so far. The former Red Bull driver must instead focus on the pace of Franco Colapinto.

No grid penalties in Montreal

After qualifying, not only the behavior of the Ferrari driver was investigated. Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez were also summoned to the stewards’ office. However, there were no grid penalties for the Canadian Grand Prix.

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Away from the incident with Gasly, Hamilton impressed on Saturday. After all, the seven-time Canada winner is ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc on the starting grid. Hamilton achieved the same result in the sprint qualifying on Friday: “It was incredibly fun out there,” he said after the session.

The sprint race itself was not a particularly big success for Hamilton. The 105-time Grand Prix winner finished sixth, one position behind his teammate.

This weekend marks a different working approach for Hamilton. On Thursday, the 41-year-old emphasized that he completely ignored the simulator ahead of the Canada weekend. Instead, he wants to rely on his feeling in the car. So far, this plan seems to have worked for the former Mercedes figurehead.

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