There was a freshness about Lewis Hamilton in Montreal that has been missing for much of his Ferrari career. Second place at the Canadian Grand Prix was his strongest result yet in red, and the seven-time champion left no doubt about how much it meant.
Across the entire weekend he had the measure of team-mate Charles Leclerc, topping him in sprint qualifying, qualifying and the race itself, before hunting down and passing Max Verstappen on track. Only the dominant Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, ten seconds up the road, finished ahead of him.
"Oh man, it's the happiest day of my days at Ferrari so far," Hamilton said after the race. "It feels great to be able to put the Ferrari on the podium and to get my first second place with the team as well in the main race."
He pointed to the work done away from the cameras as the foundation.
"I finally have the engineering team that I've been working towards. I think our car is great," he said. "The guys did a fantastic job over winter to get the car where it is, and I understand it a lot better. I'm much more comfortable with it."
The difference-maker, though, was a change of method. Hamilton bypassed Ferrari's simulator completely ahead of Montreal, leaning instead on detailed data work focused on corner entry, braking and ride stability. The setup he landed on clicked from the very first practice session.
"I didn't do the sim. It was the best I felt all year," he said. "I think that's the way forward for me."
It is not a wholesale rejection of simulator work. Hamilton will still use it for deployment programmes and correlation. But for his own driving and setup feel, he is convinced that trusting the real track beats chasing a simulator number he then has to unpick.
The telemetry backed up the feeling. Through Montreal's opening corners, where his trademark heavy braking pays off, Hamilton was the quickest man on the circuit, and observers noted he looked more alive in the cockpit than at any stage of his time in red.
Perspective is still required. Ferrari continues to bleed lap time on the straights, and Antonelli's Mercedes retained a clear race-pace edge. Hamilton has also enjoyed apparent turning points with Ferrari before, only for them to fade.
This one, however, carried the hallmarks of something real. With momentum on his side heading to Monaco, and a renewed message that he plans to race on for years yet, Hamilton's Canada may prove to be far more than a single good Sunday.
