Lewis Hamilton has revealed he hit a groundhog during the Canadian Grand Prix which affected his performance.

Hamilton finished a lonely sixth but suffered damage from Lap 9 of the 70-lap race when he hit the animal, which are a regular feature when F1 visits the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The Ferrari driver lost 20 points of downforce which equates to around half a second per lap and explained why he was 22 seconds behind team-mate Charles Leclerc before the late Safety Car for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s collision.

“I was feeling pretty decent until then. I got a good start, held position, I was holding onto the group,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.

“I was managing the tyres well. I was feeling optimistic. 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.

“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.”

Montreal was expected to be a more competitive track for Ferrari but Hamilton was still over six tenths off pole-sitter George Russell on Saturday.

Hamilton suggested that Ferrari will bring an upgrade to the next F1 race in Austria on June 27-29.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

Leclerc questions Ferrari strategy

Leclerc and Lando Norris were the two key front-runners to start on the hard tyres and ran an alternative strategy.

The Monegasque driver pitted before half race distance though, which meant a one-stop race was no longer possible even though Leclerc said the tyres were still holding up.

He was also leading the race with 18 laps to go until Ferrari pitted him for a second time which left him in fifth.

“I was pretty sure a one-stop would be better on my side, “Leclerc told Sky Sports F1.

“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.

“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.”

Next up for the 2025 Formula 1 season is a return to Europe for the Austrian Grand Prix, which is live on Sky Sports F1 from June 27-29. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.