F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Challenges Aston Martin - "Bringing More Upgrades"

Hamilton is feeling optimistic after a good race for the British Mercedes driver.

Lewis Hamilton once again showcased his driving prowess at the Canadian Grand Prix, taking P3 for the Mercedes team - a much-needed collection of points after George Russell's untimely DNF. The Mercedes driver did his best to try to catch Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, but simply didn't have the pace to finish the race any higher than P3. Despite this, he's looking forward to challenging Aston Martin with the upgrades his team have in store for the W14 later this season.

This race held particular significance for Hamilton, who celebrated his first-ever Grand Prix win at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve back in 2007. The current event saw him nailing another calculated performance and securing his second consecutive podium. 

Sharing his feelings about this accomplishment while challenging Aston Martin, he said: 

"It's been a great weekend for us, slowly chipping away. The Aston's took a little step ahead with upgrades, but we're working on bringing some more.

"Just to have this consistency and be on the podium [is great]. Quite an honour to be up there with two World Champions.”

During the race, Hamilton initially overtook Alonso during lap 1, but found it impossible to hold that position, even after a close encounter in the pits between the two rivals. 

Alonso's Aston Martin showed impressive pace in the first stint, and would eventually form a solid lead over the W14. And while the British driver attempted a comeback during the second stint, he couldn't quite catch up to challenge his former teammate despite the Spaniard struggling with rear brake issues. 

“I was excited to be third and try to be in the mix. But we didn't have the pace today.

"We knew this wouldn't be our strongest circuit with the lower speed corners, which is where I was losing to Fernando and Max, traction out of turn two and pretty much every corner.

"We have work to do to add rear downforce. Max is a little bit gone, but I think our pace was closer today."

There's no doubt that, for now at least, Red Bull's pace is a far-off dream for every other team right now, even Aston Martin. But in the coming races, the Milton Keynes team could likely start falling behind thanks to their wind tunnel punishment. Whether this actually means they'll be caught is yet to be seen. But for now, it's an exciting race behind the leader.