Lewis Hamilton hoping to shift Mercedes 'guinea pig' duties

Lewis Hamilton has joked George Russell can take on Mercedes 'guinea pig' duties in the second half of the F1 season after so far playing the role.

On Friday following practice at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the seven-time champion complained of the W13 being the worst it has been after taking a vastly different set-up route to team-mate Russell.

But the Silver Arrows pulled it back on race day as Hamilton secured only his second podium of the year with third place behind Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz after applying a more conventional set-up akin to the route taken by Russell in practice.

Asked if there was light at the end of the tunnel from being the team's 'guinea pig', Hamilton replied, laughing: "Maybe the second half of the season, George can do the experiments. We are just trying to progress as a team.

"Moving forwards, we will be a little bit more cautious on doing too many experiments as it really does hinder you through the weekend, especially if you only have practice one and two in the dry.

"There are lots of learnings from this weekend and improvements we can make going forwards.

"We had really great pace and it is so nice to see. It has not always been the case I have had with this car. It is nice to have a good battle."

Hamilton: Red Bull and Ferrari "rapid" after safety car

Hamilton was afforded the opportunity to mix it with Red Bull and Ferrari after a late safety car to clear up AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda's crash as he exited the pits.

But the Briton was unable to keep tabs with the pace of Verstappen and Sainz.

"I really hope moving to Silverstone, it is such an important race for us and for me and I really hope that... I just want to be in the battle with these guys [Red Bull and Ferrari]," said Hamilton.

"When the safety car came in and we started again, the dream was to keep in that battle with them and find a way, but they were rapid. We will get there eventually."

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