"Everything that needs to be said about Monaco has already been said," says motivated Lewis; But Nico Rosberg aware he needs to up his game after "lucky" win
Tuesday 2 June 2015 20:22, UK
A determined Lewis Hamilton has set his sights on a fourth Canadian GP victory as he aims to “bounce back” from the “huge disappointment” of missing out on a certain Monaco win.
Hamilton is preparing to return to action at one of his happiest hunting grounds in F1 a fortnight on from the bungled Mercedes strategy call which cost the world champion victory to team-mate Nico Rosberg. With the late twist in the principality producing what effectively was a 17-point swing in the title race, Hamilton’s lead now stands at just 10 points.
Although the incident is guaranteed to prove one of the central topics of Thursday’s media day in Montreal, when Hamilton will appear in the Drivers’ Press Conference, the 30-year-old says he isn’t dwelling on the events of Monaco and is focused on returning to winning ways after back-to-back successes for Rosberg.
“I think everything that needs to be said about Monaco has already been said,” said Hamilton, who has spent some of his time between races in Los Angeles for the Gumball 3000 rally.
“Obviously, it was a huge disappointment for me and also for the team. But we'll learn from it and move forwards together like we always do. I just want to get back out there and bounce back – and I could hardly ask for a better place to do that than Montreal.
“I haven't always had the best of luck in Canada – but I've never finished off the podium there either and it's given me some great memories, including my first win. I know I've got the car underneath me and the team behind me to do it again, so I'm aiming for nothing less.”
The Briton’s record in Montreal is certainly enviable: only Michael Schumacher with seven wins has triumphed around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on more occasions, while Hamilton has also only once qualified off the front-row.
Last year Rosberg became the first team-mate to outqualify Hamilton in Canada and, according to Mercedes chief Toto Wolff, “produced one of the drives of the season there” to finish second with chronic brake problems.
However, despite going into the Montreal race this year on the back of his first consecutive race wins in F1 after nine years, Rosberg is aware of how fortunate he was in Monaco given Hamilton’s weekend-long superiority.
“I still can't quite believe I was standing on the top step in Monaco for the third time the other week. It was all very surreal and I don't think I've ever been so lucky,” he acknowledged.
“However, that weekend also showed that I need to raise my game even further in the battle this year. I've got the boost of two wins behind me now, there is a long way to go this season and I know there is more to come from me personally, so it's all to play for. Next up it's Canada, which was a really difficult race for us last year but an exciting one too. Hopefully we will avoid the traps that caught us out last year and it'll be another good battle for the fans to enjoy.”
Technical chief Paddy Lowe, meanwhile, insisted that while Mercedes have inevitably learnt lessons from their Monaco mix-up, the media fall-out from their error has been overblown.
“There has been a great deal of comment concerning our mistake in Monaco and its consequences. On behalf of the team, this error should be put into context,” he argued.
“It was a single error made in a split second based on incorrect data. Sport is all about split-second decisions, trading risk with reward, and we do not always get these decisions right. But in my opinion this team gets them right more than most. However, as in all aspects we must always improve, and the failure in Monaco will undoubtedly play its part in that process.”
