“Horrible” crash with groundhog ruined Lewis…

Lewis Hamilton must have left Montreal feeling like it was Groundhog Day after an accident with a marmot left him unable to challenge for a strong result at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Having started the race from fifth, Hamilton had been hopeful of a first grand prix podium since making the move to Ferrari this year – but his hopes went up in fur when he collided with a groundhog and picked up damage as a result.

The seven-time world champion had said he was “nowhere” in the grand prix, but race engineer Riccardo Adami told Hamilton over team radio that he was running well considering the damage. The affected area and the full extent of the impact remains unclear.

“I was just slow, I was just lacking a lot of performance, so it was over half a second, so I just had to go at it,” Hamilton said.

“Yeah, I mean, my qualifying was better, I was holding on up until the damage, I was kind of holding on to [Oscar] Piastri, I think.

“I was managing the tyre as well, so I was feeling optimistic and then I didn't see it happen, but obviously I heard I hit a groundhog, so that's devastating. I love animals so I'm so sad about it. That's horrible.

“That's never happened to me here before. But the floor, basically the right side has a hole in it and all the veins are all gone. Then, we had a brake issue halfway through as well.”

Marmota monax. also known as a groundhog, woodchuck, or marmot (Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images)

Despite bemoaning his lack of pace following the contact with the ill-placed groundhog, Hamilton still felt another Montreal podium might have been out of reach after all – despite targeting the top three after qualifying on Saturday.

“We stayed out probably too long in the first stop and came out behind traffic and just went from one thing to another,” he said. “So, I'm grateful that I could just finish particularly with the brake issue I had to bag those points.

“We're really in need of an upgrade and there's a lot of things that need to change in order for us to compete at the front.

“I think I lost a tonne of time, came down behind a bunch of people, got stuck behind a bit worse, and I just ended up in ninth place. But to still come away with sixth, I think if everything was perfect, if we had done everything right, if we didn't have any problems, maybe it would have been fourth.”

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has been under pressure all weekend following media speculation in Italy that his position is under threat.

But he still found time to make light of Hamilton’s incident: “First, it's true that we had a small kiss with the marmot. It was lap eight or nine at the beginning of the first stint.

“And we damaged all the front part of the floor. It's something like 20 points [of downforce]. Hopefully, we didn't have a big change in balance, but it was a lot of performance. We will send flowers to the marmot.”

Replying to Hamilton’s call for an upgrade package, Vasseur added: “We will have an upgrade soon, before UK [Silverstone].

“And perhaps another one a bit later. Honestly today, I think there is much more into the execution and what you are getting from the car than into the potential of the car itself.”