Lewis Hamilton admitted he hit a groundhog during the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
This incident, which happened on lap 9 of the 70-lap race, damaged his car and negatively affected its speed.
According to the driver, the impact led to a loss of about 20 points of downforce, which is equivalent to roughly half a second per lap.
It was because of this damage that he fell so far behind his teammate Charles Leclerc before the late Safety Car was deployed.
Hamilton, who finished sixth, expressed deep regret over the incident with the animal, calling it terrible and unprecedented for him. “I didn`t see it happen but I heard I hit a groundhog. That`s devastating because I love animals and I`m so sad about it. That`s horrible. It`s never happened to me before,” he said.
“The right side of the floor has a hole on it and all the veins are done. Given that, then we had a brake issue halfway through [the race] as well, then we stayed out too long in the first stop, came out behind traffic and it went from one thing to another, so I`m grateful I could just finish, particularly with the brake issue I had and bag those points,” Hamilton added.
He noted that Montreal was expected to be a stronger race for Ferrari, but the team needs significant updates to compete at the front.
Hamilton hopes for some improvement by the next race in Austria (June 27-29), although he is not certain about its effectiveness. “We are really in need of an upgrade and there`s lots of things that need to change for us to compete at the front. We have something hopefully coming next week. I don`t know if it`s much, how much it is. I don`t think it`s a lot. I just think it`s one of those years,” he stated.
Leclerc Questions Ferrari Strategy
Meanwhile, his teammate Charles Leclerc questioned the team`s race strategy.
He started on hard tyres, like Lando Norris, opting for an alternative approach.
However, Leclerc pitted before half race distance, making a one-stop race no longer possible, although he felt his tyres were still in good condition.
He was also leading the race with 18 laps to go, but a second pit stop dropped him to fifth place.
“I was pretty sure a one-stop would be better on my side,” Leclerc said. “I thought I had done a good job with the tyres at first, then I was seeing the medium runners were pretty confident to push on those tyres. I was confident the one-stop was the way to go. But we decided to do otherwise. I don`t have the information inside the car, so we stick to two stops. I tried my best and P5 was the best I could do.”
Leclerc finished fifth and admitted that his own mistakes (in first practice and qualifying) and traffic prevented a better result. “We paid the price of my mistake in FP1 and traffic in qualifying. I`m probably the first to blame. Strategy maybe could have been better but the starting position is what held us back,” he concluded.
The next Formula 1 race will take place in Austria from June 27-29.
Marcus Prine