Mercedes F1 head Toto Wolff has reminded Lewis Hamilton by saying, “one swallow doesn’t make a summer”, after the world champion secured third place on the podium for the first time in three months at the Canadian Grand Prix this past weekend.
Lewis will attend his home race in Brittain at the Silverstone Grand Prix this coming Sunday with renewed vigour after recovering from a back injury sustained at the Azerbaijan race.
Max Verstappen took first place to secure a sixth win within nine races and the sixth win in succession as he leads the world championship for the Red Bull team, making him an almost sure bet and a good opportunity to take advantage of the best welcome bonuses many bookies offer.
But Lewis Hamilton, trailing behind Max Verstappen with 98 points in the standings, said he was “overwhelmed” to get a third place on the podium. This win will undoubtedly give Lewis Hamilton the motivation he needs to regain his position in the leader’s circle.
Although, Hamilton and the Mercedes team were optimistic after his drive from the back of the grid to fifth position in the Spanish Grand Prix, only to fall behind again in Monaco and Azerbaijan.
Team principal Wolff said: “One swallow doesn’t make a summer.” A sobering warning from Wolf that even though they reached the podium, they were off pace on Friday and need to stay cautious ahead of next Sunday’s race.
Max Verstappen’s win in Canada could spell trouble for Leclerc
Charles Leclerc was told he could still catch the leader and that the Formula 1 title is still within his reach.
The Ferrari number 1 driver set the pace early in the championship by winning two races out of the first three to gain the leader board in the championship standings. But a combination of personal errors and reliability issues with the engine of his Ferrari has proven to be very costly in the past few weeks and has seen him fall behind the current leader Max Verstappen by 35 points.
MAX VERSTAPPEN leads Charles Leclerc in the Formula One Drivers’ Championship battle.
Max Verstappen expresses that his car and team and a sense of knowing that he will win future races means that he does not feel any pressure to win this F1 championship battle between himself and Charles Leclerc. He is still comfortably in the lead as he defends the championship title.
Max had a very successful weekend in Montreal at the Canadian Grand Prix as he took 25 points for the win, whilst Leclerc could only regain the fifth position from P-19 due to a grid penalty.
The resulting outcome is that Max is 46 points ahead of his teammate and 49 points ahead of Leclerc. Considering Max’s consistency and determination and the pace the car is showing, this could be enough to give him a very comfortable lead as he nears the halfway mark of this season’s championship.
But despite this, Verstappen is not getting ahead of himself, fully aware that Leclerc will not give up the battle as he gained a 46-point lead after a very successful race at the Australian Grand Prix.
Max stated that they still have a long way to go, and even knowing the sizeable gap, things can turn around quickly. He also goes on to say that even though he is in the lead, he needs to stay calm and that the whole team needs to work together and find minor improvements on the car anywhere they can.
Max Verstappen has managed to win two of the opening races out of the four this year in the Formula 1 season but failed to finish the others. Even in the races where he managed to gain maximum points, the Red Bull team is still to perform a weekend perfectly, which in turn should put Ferarri in an uncomfortable position as they battle it out for the F1 2022 championship.
The next race is Silverstone, Hamilton’s home turf; no doubt this coming weekend will be a tense one as Hamilton goes into this race with new vigour and a will to win. The Silverstone Grand Prix will no doubt be a big decider for this year’s F1 Championship.