Lewis Hamilton questions Ferrari's strategy after beating Charles Leclerc twice in a row in qualifying

Lewis Hamilton has questioned Ferrari's strategy of not going for the final run on medium tires as George Russell skyrocketed to pole using the same tire. The Brit started the race in P5, while teammate Charles Leclerc, who messed up his final lap, was P8.

One of the key factors during the F1 Canadian GP qualifying was the fact that the medium and soft tires appeared to have similar performance. There was, however, a thought process that as the temperatures increase, there would be a lean towards medium tires.

While the temperatures increased in the very late stage of qualifying, George Russell secured pole for the F1 Canadian GP. Lewis Hamilton did his final lap on soft tires and only put together a P5. There was a slight positive for the driver as well in the session, as his teammate Charles Leclerc was unable to complete his final push lap and hence would start the race in P8.

Talking to the media, including Sky Sports, Lewis Hamilton claimed that it was the maximum that the car was capable of. He did, however, question the strategy as a part of which the driver George Russell ended the season on pole and made a big jump at the end of the sessions. The seven-time champion said,

"We have been working flat out all weekend trying to get it to go quicker but I just don't think the car's going to go that much faster. I definitely don't think we can compete with the guys at the front and we just have to accept that that's the way it is."

He added:

"Charles was on a good start of his lap, obviously didn't finish it, maybe there was a couple of more tenths there but it wouldn't put us on the front row. "But also the other guys had the medium tyre, which I'm not really sure why we didn't consider it. We thought that the soft, or we were told that the soft, was the better one so that's what we went with."

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Lewis Hamilton looking forward to the race

Lewis Hamilton did share a positive outlook on the race, as he hoped that he could get a better result by starting from P5. The driver set a target of a podium in Barcelona but ended the race behind a Sauber. This time around as well, the driver has set a target of podium, as he said.

"I hope so, yeah. Whether or not the issues come back [from Spain] but hopefully not. We have done everything we can to mitigate it so I'm really hoping for a good day tomorrow. I really, really love this track. Every track I'm going to is the first time driving this Ferrari and it's so much different, this is very, very tricky to adapt to."

He added:

"But, to be P5, hopefully I can fight from there. We have got new tyres, so I've got the new medium and the two new herds so a small advantage maybe to the cars ahead. Just still chasing that podium so that's what I'm going to try and go for tomorrow."

Lewis Hamilton will be happy to get another one over teammate Charles Leclerc as he now makes it two in two in the last two qualifying sessions.