Lewis Hamilton has ‘shocked’ Danica Patrick with what the Ferrari driver revealed after continuing his strong run in qualifying with fifth for the Canadian Grand Prix.

The 40-year-old has found a new lease of life over a single lap of late, with Hamilton earning a top-five place in Q3 for the third successive round. Qualifying was once his trademark skill, but the Briton has struggled to show off his single-lap speed since his swap to the Scuderia.

Hamilton left Mercedes for Ferrari ahead of the 2025 F1 season, but he could only qualify in the top five once across the first seven rounds with P5 at the Chinese Grand Prix. Yet he has now held P4 in Monaco, P5 in Spain and P5 in Canada since Hamilton qualified P12 at Imola.

Ferrari even saw Hamilton lead their qualifying efforts at the Canadian GP, as Charles Leclerc finished Q3 in only P8 after a scrappy end to his session. It is also just the third time that the seven-time champion has now out-qualified the Monegasque since he moved to Maranello.

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Lewis Hamilton ‘shocked’ Danica Patrick by admitting every race with Ferrari presents a new challenge

Hamilton’s qualifying performance also helped to take some of the attention away from the rumours that met Ferrari in Montreal. Reports in Italy ahead of the Canadian GP suggested that team boss Fred Vasseur has three races to save his job at Ferrari given their bleak year.

The Scuderia are also said to want answers from Vasseur about why Hamilton has struggled to adapt to Ferrari’s 2025 F1 car. And, despite qualifying P5 for the Canadian GP, Hamilton is still facing a huge learning curve every race as the SF-25 is so different from Mercedes’ car.

Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 (14/06, 22:44): “I’m really hoping for a good day tomorrow. I really, really love this track.

“Every track I’m going to, it’s the first time driving this Ferrari and it’s so much different and it’s very, very tricky to adapt to. But to be P5, hopefully I can fight from there. We’ve got new tyres, so we’ve got the new mediums and the two new hards, so a small advantage.”

Hamilton admitting that every round presents him with a new challenge to adapt to Ferrari’s 2025 F1 car after qualifying P5 for the Canadian GP stunned Patrick. The former IndyCar star is also ‘curious’ to know why the Briton thinks Ferrari’s car differs so much from Mercedes’.

Patrick said on Sky Sports F1 (14/06, 22:45): “I don’t think that’s so bad, fifth, for the season they’ve been having. But I was most shocked to hear him say that every track he goes to is the first time in this Ferrari and, yes that’s true.

“But he says it’s very different. So, I’m curious to know what those differences are and, obviously, which ones he doesn’t like.”

Lewis Hamilton may face waiting until 2026 for Ferrari to fix his biggest problems

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The rear suspension on Ferrari’s 2025 F1 car has proven to be among the biggest challenges that Hamilton has had to adapt to since joining from Mercedes. But it is not his only issue to exploit the SF-25’s pace, as Hamilton wants Ferrari to change their power steering mapping.

Yet the Stevenage-born star faces waiting until next season and the introduction of the 2026 F1 regulations for Ferrari to change their power steering given the time it would require. But Hamilton wants Ferrari to switch focus to the 2026 F1 regulations as quickly as possible, too.

His struggles adapting to the SF-25 and the Scuderia already slipping miles from McLaren in the F1 constructors’ standings have also seen many share the Briton’s outlook. Only Vasseur still believes in Ferrari’s 2025 F1 car and is delaying moving across entirely to next year’s car.