Hamilton bounces back with third spot

LEWIS HAMILTON said he was ‘overwhelmed’ to be back on the podium with a third-place finish in the Canadian Grand Prix last night. a week after struggling to climb out of his mercedes in Baku where he was bounced around in the cockpit, the 37-year-old Briton finished behind Red Bull’s max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and declared: ‘I am back to being young again!

‘It’s quite overwhelming to get this third place. It’s been such a battle this year with the car, but we continue to stay vigilant, focused and never give up. that’s something I’m proud of. ‘We’re getting closer, so we’ve got to keep pushing and pushing, and hopefully we’ll eventually be in the fight with these guys.’

Hamilton is now 98 points off the summit heading to Silverstone a week on Sunday. team principal toto Wolff said: ‘one swallow doesn’t make a summer, but we are very happy. ‘I am delighted for Lewis because he was disadvantaged by the safety car at various races previously. He has had bad luck. But he is on the podium without having anything gifted to him. It’s good to see.’ Verstappen, the champion and leader, held his nerve after a late safety-car phase to claim his sixth win of the season before being acclaimed by his boss Christian Horner as being ‘in the form of his life’. George Russell, in the second mercedes, started eighth after taking on slick tyres on a drying track in qualifying, and finished fourth.