It's been a year since the Mercedes Mclaren driver last put a wheel on the 2.71-mile road course on Isle du Notre Dame, but he has thought about it a lot in the interim.
"Last year in Canada was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life, to take my maiden pole and victory in Formula One was incredible," the Englishman said in a Thursday interview at the Montreal track.
Hamilton showed Friday it was worth the wait as he started slowly in the morning practice but wound up with the fastest lap at 1 minute, 15.732 seconds, not far removed from his pole-winning lap of 1:15.707 a year ago.
That was somewhat surprising because, without the traction control that was banned after last season, the fast Canadian circuit presents more problems for all of the drivers.
"Last year I think we had a very good car," Hamilton said. "Obviously, with the driving aids we had, I think the package was stronger in some areas than the ones we have right now. But that is because we have had some aids taken away.
"But we should be slightly better over the curbs, which is definitely suited for this sort of circuit. And we've improved the engine and improved the aero, so we should be quicker overall."
His car wasn't particularly quick on Friday morning.
In the first of two 90-minute sessions, led by Ferrari's Felipe Massa, Hamilton was a disappointing sixth. But Hamilton and his team made steady gains in the afternoon and he eventually turned the fastest lap in the final 10 minutes.
"In the afternoon, we were able to improve the car on every run," he said. "I felt very comfortable with the setup and the balance. ... We've still got some work to do ahead of qualifying and the race, but we've already got some positive running under our belts."
Robert Kubica, the BMW Sauber driver who walked away from a frightening crash at the track last year, showed no lingering effects of the incident as he was second fastest at 1:16.023.
Reigning F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari was third at 1:16.053, followed by McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen at 1:16.331 and Massa at 1:16.413.
After a relatively slow, event-free morning free practice on a partially wet track, the 90-minute afternoon session was much faster and full of action.
Numerous drivers, including Hamilton, Kubica and Raikkonen either bounced off the wall or came close at the dangerous Champion's corner, while several others spun.
Massa wound up parking his car on the grass alongside the track because of a mechanical problem with about 20 minutes left in the afternoon session, while former world champion Fernando Alonso, driving for Renault, and Timo Glock, in a Toyota, also wound up walking back to the pits after spinning and stalling their cars on course. Mark Webber, in a Red Bull entry, and Kovalainen also spun, but were able to continue.
