HAMILTON EXPECTS

upgraded Mercedes to be stronger in Canada

Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton will have a new and upgraded engine in his Mercedes for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix and expects to be stronger than in the past at a favourite circuit.

The Briton has won six times at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve but was off the podium last year in a race won by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Mercedes have racked up six straight wins, five of them in onetwo formation, and Hamilton now leads team mate Valtteri Bottas by 17 points in the championship after taking four victories.

“I dont think Ive really excelled for a while here,” the five-times champion told reporters on Thursday.

“When I was at Mclaren it worked quite well, our car was quite nimble back then and worked really well here. Its been a bit harder with the hybrid era, especially since weve had a longer car, since 2017.” That, however, could be about to change.

“But our car is a lot better this year in the slower and mediumspeed corners. I anticipate this

weekend we will be stronger than we have been in the past,” Hamilton said. Mercedes have confirmed that Hamilton and Bottas, as well as customer teams Racing Point and Williams, will have upgraded engines in Canada.

Honda, Ferrari and Renault have already introduced their first upgrades.

“The guys at Brixworth (the Mercedes engine factory) have been working incredibly hard,” said Hamilton.

“Weve had great reliability with the first engine.”