Lewis Hamilton's late overtake on Max Verstappen for second at the Canadian Grand Prix topped off his most impressive weekend since joining Ferrari 18 months ago.
Hamilton outshone team-mate Charles Leclerc throughout the Sprint weekend in Montreal to claim his best result at Ferrari and just his second podium.
"These guys [Ferrari] have welcomed me with open arms, and it's been pretty tough over the past year and a bit, so to finally find our sweet spot and have a good weekend has really been an amazing feeling," he said.
Similarly to George Russell, Hamilton went into the weekend needing a big performance after two difficult events.
However, unlike Russell, the seven-time world champion got the response he was looking for as he let his driving do the talking...
Hamilton made a strong start to 2026 as he was on the pace of Leclerc in Australia and China, claiming his first Ferrari podium in Shanghai.
He appeared to be enjoying the new cars significantly more than the previous ground effect machines, but his form suddenly dropped in Japan and Miami as he failed to beat Leclerc on the road in any of the six competitive sessions across those weekends.
Last Thursday in Montreal, Hamilton was asked about his future by the Italian media, specifically if everything was clear about whether he would be driving for Ferrari in 2027.
He responded: "I'm still in contract, so everything is 100 per cent clear to me. I'm still focused, I'm still motivated, I still love what I do with all my heart, and I'm going to be here for quite some time, so get used to it.
"There's a lot of people that are trying to retire me and that's not even on my thoughts. I'm already thinking of what will be next, planning for the next five years. But yeah, still plan to be here for some time."
Your Site F1 understands not only does Hamilton have a Ferrari contract for 2027, but an option, should he wish, to remain at the team in 2028.
Whoever Hamilton's answer was aimed at, he wanted to make public that you won't get rid of him easily. Contracts can be broken in Formula 1 though, and there are usually performance clauses for the team and driver, so, with his comments, there was extra attention on Hamilton now for the weekend, and he certainly thrived on it.
Ferrari brought no upgrades to Montreal whereas rivals Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull had new parts, so the Scuderia were expecting to have a tricky weekend.
But, Hamilton was immediately on it in practice, visibly hustling the car to explore its limits, and found a nice groove early on. That translated to fifth in Sprint Qualifying later on Friday but his pace in SQ1 and SQ2 was particularly encouraging as he looked like challenging the Mercedes for pole.
A small mistake at the hairpin in SQ3 cost Hamilton third place, but he still beat team-mate Leclerc who was struggling with the brakes.
"That's probably the best qualifying session we've had for some time," said Hamilton.
"Just really great work with the engineers, setup changes, the car felt really fantastic from P1, and we made just subtle changes going into qualy."
In the Sprint itself, Hamilton was running in fourth until he was overtaken late on by Oscar Piastri with Leclerc also slipping by to finish ahead of the British driver.
Ferrari made some setup tweaks for Qualifying later on Saturday and Hamilton outqualified Leclerc in fifth again. This time a power unit problem denied him from at least splitting McLarens on the second row.
With drizzle in the air and tricky, gusty conditions, Hamilton came alive on race day. He was overtaken early on by a flying Verstappen and dropped seven seconds behind his old rival once everyone pitted with 37 laps remaining.
As the stint progressed, Hamilton slowly chipped away at Verstappen's advantage in what turned out to be the battle for second after Russell's retirement.
He was right up against the walls and pushing the limits of the car's braking ability, knowing he needed to take some risks to catch who most perceive as the best driver on the grid.
"I love that hunt. That's what my whole life has been about since [I was] a kid, since I had a really old go-kart, I was just always hunting," said Hamilton.
It initially looked like the superior Red Bull straight-line speed and Verstappen's smart defending would be enough to hold Hamilton off. However, the Ferrari driver tactically used his deployment to make a move going into Turn 1 with six laps remaining to take his best Grand Prix result in red.
"I was just having to do these calculations, trying to figure out how to maximise the amount of power on my battery bar each straight and make sure that I have enough at that particular point," he said.
"Thank God I managed to pull it off. And it's a great feeling when you overtake as well."
Hamilton has been using the Ferrari simulator to prepare for race weekends significantly more than he did at McLaren and Mercedes. But, the two rounds he did not use the simulator were in China and Canada - the two races at which he's scored podiums.
He said "everything was opposite" once he got to the track in the races he used the simulator, so he decided to focus more on data to optimise corner balance and the braking - two areas he's not been happy with for much of this season.
Hamilton says he's keen to use the simulator to correlate for Canada to see what the team are missing and why their machinery at Maranello is not always transferring the same outcomes in real life onto the track, but he does not plan to use it to prepare for race weekends.
"There are just too many risks. If you look at the two best races I've had, I didn't use a simulator," he said.
"Pretty much all the championships before, except for probably 2008, I didn't use the sim, so it's not a necessity. It's a tool that can be powerful. But for me, I'm old school. I'm probably better without it."
Hamilton is experienced enough to know he can't let Canada be a one-off, and his return to form is timely given there are six rounds in eight weeks before the summer break at the end of July.
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has always been a track he's gone well at, having taken his maiden pole position and win there in 2007.
Leclerc said he had a "nightmare" weekend and struggled for confidence in the cold conditions, so the real test for Hamilton is coming up and there's perhaps no bigger challenge than the next race in Monaco.
Ferrari are expected to be very strong, perhaps even the team to beat, there due to their strength in the low-speed corners and the lack of straights which will not show up their power deficiency.
That pressure of being able to win, coupled with Leclerc being on home soil on a track he adores, will be a big hurdle for Hamilton to overcome.
"I think our car could be really strong there," said Hamilton, who last won the Monaco Grand Prix in 2019.
"I'm really going to focus on making sure I arrive with the same energy as I had in Canada, really study hard with the engineers to make sure we position the car in the right place from Practice One."
Perhaps Hamilton should bring his mother, Carmen Larbalestier, to Monaco as the two races she's attended this year - China and Canada - suggests she could be a lucky charm.
"I got an apartment in Canada, so my mom stayed with me. So, every night we'd have dinner together and we'd watch a movie or just sit up talking. It's been awesome," he said.
"We're going on a little bit of a trip for a couple of days, so I'm really excited about that. To go on a positive result as well is awesome. So, now she has to come, she's clearly my lucky omen, my lucky charm, have her come every weekend!"
Next up is the start of Formula 1's European summer swing, with the Monaco Grand Prix the first of six races in eight weeks. Watch live on Your Site F1 from June 5-7.
