Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen dissect epic Canada battle in F1 cooldown room
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen locked horns in a thrilling late duel at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen reflected on their thrilling late battle in the Canadian Grand Prix in the Formula 1 cooldown room after the race.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton overtook Verstappen late on to claim his best result as a Ferrari driver in second place, and his second podium finish of a much-improved 2026 season.
Hamilton had lost out to his great F1 rival earlier in the race but fought back during a charging final stint and swept past the Red Bull driver with a perfectly-executed overtake around the outside of Turn 1.
The 41-year-old Briton could not shake off Verstappen in the closing stages as they ran nose-to-tail in the final few laps but Hamilton ultimately got the better of his former title rival.
"Firstly, I have to say a huge thank you to my team here,” Hamilton said in the post-race interviews conducted by his former McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen.
“These guys 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 weekends, it’s an amazing feeling to be back up here.
"Especially with these guys [Mercedes] being so quick, and I actually got to have a race with Max, which was great.”
Verstappen also enjoyed the battle with Hamilton, saying: "I am happy with that. Cool battle with Lewis [Hamilton] at the end.
"In a weekend when it's not that easy to get things right, to be on the podium is extremely positive.
"We need to keep improving better than our opposition. That's our target. We will see what we can do over the coming races."
The pair continued their conversation in the post-race cooldown room, which went as follows:
LH: ”I couldn’t shake you!”
MV: "The middle chicanes, every time you’d pull three tenths, but then I just got it back on the straight.”
LH: "It was mad.”
MV: "You had some bad traffic.”
LH: "At the end, I don’t know if it was Bortoleto. Oh god!
LH: “I don’t know if our car is extra draggy or it is just the power.”
MV: "You were very good in turn six."
It marked a first podium of the season for Verstappen, while it was a 204th career rostrum appearance for Hamilton.
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