By Angelica Medina
MONTREAL, May 24 (Reuters) - Lewis Hamilton celebrated his strongest performance yet in Ferrari red after finishing second at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, crediting behind-the-scenes changes and a fresh approach to car setup for finally unlocking his potential with the Italian team.
The seven-times Formula One world champion passed Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the closing laps at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to secure his second podium finish this season, after the Chinese Grand Prix in March.
"The prep before, I chose a different set-up this weekend through just ciphering through the data, working really well with my engineer," Hamilton said. "I was able to attack all the corners finally."
Hamilton praised Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur's support in implementing changes to make him more comfortable in the car.
"There's a lot of changes that I've had to ask for, and Fred's been super supportive and again also moving mountains in order to make me comfortable. And it's finally starting to show in my performance."
The 41-year-old driver was also grateful for the work of his engineers, including Cedric Santi, who replaced veteran Riccardo Adami at the start of the year on an interim basis.
"I'm really grateful to the team for continuing to hold me up high and support me weekend in, weekend out. And it's a really lovely feeling to see them so happy, because they truly deserve it with all the hard work they put in."
The result proved particularly encouraging given Montreal's emphasis on straight-line speed, an area where Ferrari have traditionally struggled.
While Ferrari brought their major upgrade package to Miami earlier this season, several rivals including Mercedes introduced updates in Canada.
"Considering this is a real straight-line-speed circuit and we just managed to hold on and get this result, that definitely gives me high hopes for what's ahead," Hamilton said.
He admitted the journey to this breakthrough had been gruelling.
"This is my first second place with the team. It's something I've been working so hard, I can't even begin to explain how deep I've had to dig to be able to get to this point."
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Montreal; Editing by Jamie Freed)
