Lewis Hamilton is facing a “critical” weekend at the Canadian Grand Prix, according to Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok and David Croft.

The seven-time world champion endured perhaps his worst race to date for Ferrari last time out at the Spanish Grand Prix, as he was outperformed to an inexplicable degree by team-mate Charles Leclerc in Barcelona.

While he delivered a Sprint victory at the second round of the season in China, Hamilton remains without a grand prix podium after nine races with the Italian team, with Leclerc having claimed three.

Having been left despondent by his performance in Spain, Hamilton this week returns to the scene of his first Formula 1 victory in Canada in need of a momentum-changing display.

Chandhok told the latest episode of The F1 Show: “It’s starting to get a bit critical. We’re coming into the second third of the season now, and he’s not finding the rhythm. He’s not finding consistency where week in, week out, he’s in a happy place of the car.

“In Imola, he was woeful in qualifying, then suddenly the car’s brilliant in the race. In Monaco, he wasn’t quite there. He was a chunk behind Charles throughout.

“There’s got to be a degree of concern creeping in. When you look at Spain, the fact that Charles overtook him and drove away from him quite comfortably, even before we go into the different tyres and stuff later on.

After a disappointing 2024 campaign in which Hamilton was outperformed by his Mercedes team-mate George Russell, there had been hope that his blockbuster switch to Ferrari would provide reinvigoration, but the pattern has largely continued.

Chandhok continued: “If I was on the Lewis side of the garage, I would be concerned. We are nearly at halfway through the year now, we need to start understanding whether this a fundamental issue, that we need to change the direction of the set-up of the car.

“I’m not disputing that he’s still got the ability. He clearly does. He’s able to win races, we saw that in China, but they need to find a sweet spot for him, where every weekend he knows what he’s got, and they haven’t got that.

“He’s still having too many good days and bad days. The fluctuations are too much.”

Could Hamilton have received a morale boost?

While Hamilton suggested his own driving was responsible for his considerable deficit to Leclerc, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur said after the race in Spain that a car issue had impacted the Brit’s performance in the latter stages.

Hamilton made no reference to an issue during his media appearances after the race, but Sky Sports F1 commentator Croft says gathering more information on the situation may have provided a morale boost.

“He was so down after Spain. Ferrari didn’t specified exactly what the issue was, but according to Fred Vasseur there was an issue with the car in the final stint, and that wasn’t helping him,” Croft said.

“He didn’t have that race pace for the first two-thirds of the race, let alone the last one. You go away, you go back to the drawing board, don’t you, and you go and find what’s wrong.

“If there was something fundamentally wrong with the car, then I think that offers a morale boost to Lewis.”

Hamilton has claimed six pole positions and seven F1 victories in Canada, the last coming in 2019, and Croft believes the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve could prove the perfect place to get the 40-year-old back on track.

He said: “I think the next race is quite critical for Lewis because Canada is a place he goes so well at. It’s a place he loves. He got his first pole and first win there.

“This is Lewis Hamilton’s track. If he has another down day, like you did in Barcelona, then there are issues.

“If anyone can do it and turn it around, the seven-time world champion that is Lewis Hamilton can definitely turn that around.”

Sky Sports F1’s Canadian GP schedule

Thursday June 12
8pm: Drivers’ Press Conference

Friday June 13
4pm: F1 Academy Practice One
6pm: Canadian GP Practice One (session starts at 6.30pm)
8pm: The F1 Show
9pm: Team Principals’ Press Conference
9.30pm: Canadian GP Practice Two (session starts at 10pm)
11.25pm: F1 Academy Qualifying

Saturday June 14
2.10pm: F1 Academy Race One
5.15pm: Canadian GP Practice Three (session starts at 5.30pm)
7.30pm: F1 Academy Race Two
8.30pm: Canadian GP Qualifying build-up
9pm: CANADIAN GP QUALIFYING
11pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday June 15
3.50pm: F1 Academy Race Three
5.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Canadian GP build-up
7pm: THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
9pm: Chequered Flag: Canadian GP reaction
10pm: Ted’s Notebook

The 2025 Formula 1 season pauses for breath after the European triple-header before resuming live on Sky Sports F1 with the Canadian Grand Prix from June 13-15. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.