In the coming days, Lewis Hamilton will set foot on the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit for the very last time… as driver of the Silver Arrows.
In 2025, the seven-time world champion will wear the red of Ferrari. He will represent the team beloved by many Quebecers. Gilles Villeneuve’s team.
Hamilton and Montreal are seven victories, including four with the Mercedes team. To mark this new stage in the career of the 39-year-old driver, La Presse offers you a look back at his four triumphs with the Silver Arrows on Sainte-Hélène Island.
For the second year in a row in 2015, Mercedes presents the most competitive car on the grid. And for the second year in a row, there is an internal battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg for the world champion title.
In the two races preceding Canada’s on the calendar, Spain and Monaco, Rosberg emerged victorious, regaining the lead in the championship.
In Canada, Hamilton wins. In a Grand Prix without much spectacle or turnaround, the man who is then double world champion maintains his leading position from start to finish. He won with less than 3 seconds ahead of Rosberg, but more than 40 seconds ahead of the Williams of Valtteri Bottas.
“I love Montreal, this track, the city,” says the driver from the top of the podium.
With this victory, the Briton regains a 17-point lead over Rosberg in the standings, en route to a season at the end of which he will be crowned world champion for the third time in his career…
The Hamilton-Rosberg rivalry is still in full swing in Formula 1 this 2016 season. Nico Rosberg dominated the start of the campaign until the Barcelona Grand Prix, where the two rivals collided. Since then, Hamilton has closed the gap and is now 24 points behind the man who is both his teammate and his main opponent.
Hamilton starts in leading position, alongside Rosberg. The two Mercedes are, however, topped at the start by the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. At the first corner, the two Mercedes came into contact, so that Rosberg found himself a few rows further back, in the peloton, while Hamilton followed Vettel. In the race, Mercedes opted for a pit stop, which gave the Briton an advantage and allowed him to get ahead of the Ferrari.
Verdict: Hamilton finished first, Vettel 2nd and Valtteri Bottas 3rd. Rosberg is satisfied with 5th place.
After the race, Hamilton dedicated this 45th victory to Muhammad Ali, who had died a few days earlier. “Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee. This race is for Muhammad Ali,” he says into his radio. Getting out of his car, he performs a few boxing blows in the air.
Leaving Montreal, Hamilton is now only nine points behind Rosberg. However, it is the latter who will be crowned world champion at the end of the season; his first and last title.
June 2017; it is Sebastian Vettel who leads the drivers’ championship. Lewis Hamilton, for his part, arrives in Montreal after a difficult 7th place in Monaco. He also has a new teammate: Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton starts first for the 65th time in his career, equaling the record set by Ayrton Senna. Vettel, who started second on the grid, damaged his car at the start and found himself far, far behind, in 18th place. The Ferrari climbs back up the slope, but does not reach the podium and settles for 4th place.
The No. 44 finished 20 seconds ahead of his closest pursuer, his new teammate Bottas. Daniel Ricciardo collected the 15 points for third place.
It was also that weekend that Lance Stroll, a young Quebecer recently arrived in Formula 1, won his first two points after going from 17th to 9th place at the wheel of his Williams…
At the end of this season, Hamilton will win his fourth world championship title.
Controversy weekend!
That season, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas competed for first place in the drivers’ championship. The two teammates have won every race so far this season. The Briton, however, is having a very good time arriving in Montreal, having won the last two Grands Prix to take a 17-point lead in the standings.
It was on the 48th lap that everything was decided for Hamilton that day. Starting 2nd on the grid, the Briton is stuck behind Vettel’s Ferrari, looking for a first victory this season. At turn 4, Vettel made a driving error and ended up on the grass. While trying to return to the track, he blocked Hamilton, who was trying to overtake on the right.
The race marshals impose a five-second penalty on Vettel who, even if he crosses the finish line first, has to settle for second place… much to his dismay. He will even go so far as to swap signs 1 and 2 in front of the cars, to get his message across.
“[The stewards] stole the race from us,” Vettel exclaims, furiously, into his radio.
On the podium, the winner receives a few boos.
“I lost the rear of the car, so I wasn’t intentionally trying to get back on track by cutting off Lewis,” he then explained to the media. I think it was obvious; I pushed my car to the limit and ended up on the grass. […] Once I managed [to regain control of my car], I looked in my mirrors and realized that Lewis was there. »
“It’s obviously not the way I wanted to win, but I forced him to make a mistake and he bit,” Hamilton said at a press conference.
Despite everything, it is a seventh victory in Montreal for Hamilton which equals the record established by Michael Schumacher.