Lewis Hamilton to receive upgraded Mercedes front wing for Canadian GP

Lewis Hamilton has confirmed he will be receiving the same front wing upgrade as George Russell at the Canadian Grand Prix, having declined the chance to toss a coin for it in Monaco.

Lewis Hamilton will receive the upgraded Mercedes front wing at the Canadian Grand Prix, having declined the chance to toss a coin for it in Monaco.

George Russell had said he and Hamilton were set for a 50/50 decision over which driver would get the one new wing available for Monaco, but after trying it in the simulator, Russell said the seven-time World Champion was “happy for me to use it” in Monte Carlo, due to the “risk” attached with only having one new part available.

Hamilton had said over the weekend that he knew he was “automatically going to lose two tenths” in qualifying with Russell having the upgraded front wing and it having a positive impact on the W15 around Monaco.

But with a two-week gap to the Canadian Grand Prix, he confirmed the part will appear on his side of the garage in Montréal.

“Ultimately, I just try and give my all every weekend and push and give everything for this team,” Hamilton said to media including PlanetF1.com in Monaco.

“And I’m really so happy to see the team’s bringing upgrades, the last three races we’ve had upgrades.

“This weekend George’s one was a positive as well, so I’ll get that next week and hopefully, over the next few races, we have some more we can just continue to push and try and close that gap.”

Russell had explained that, with one wing produced in time for the Monaco Grand Prix, the two Mercedes drivers were going to decide between them which one would run the new part in Monte Carlo.

After trialling it in the simulator, however, Russell said Hamilton was willing to offer his team-mate the upgrade on this occasion.

“There was one front wing this weekend and it was agreed on Tuesday that we’d do a coin toss and see who got it,” Russell told Channel 4.

“Lewis said he’d tried it on the sim and was happy for me to use it this weekend, because it doesn’t go without risk.

“If we made a mistake in qualifying and damaged it, obviously that’s one front wing that we won’t ever be able to use again and you’d have to start from the pit lane.

“I was happy to take that risk using it and I thought it was a belated birthday present he gave me, saying I could use it.”

When asked if the coin toss for the front wing took place, Russell replied: “No, we didn’t do the coin toss.”