"My dad was immensely happy after my first win," says Hamilton as he reflects on the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix

On the eve of the Canadian Grand Prix, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said that he still remembers his father's face when he secured his first F1 victory in Montreal 17 years ago.

Lewis Hamilton started his F1 career with the Mercedes-powered McLaren outfit back in 2007. The Briton showed impressive speed in his first ever F1 race, finishing immediately on the podium with a third spot in Melbourne. The following four races saw Hamilton end up a position higher, finishing the Kuala Lumpur, Bahrain, Barcelona and Monaco rounds second.

When the field headed to Montreal for Round 5 of the 2007 F1 season, Hamilton surprised his team-mate Fernando Alonso and Ferrari rivals Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa by displaying an impressive performance on the challenging Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The Briton secured pole position in qualifying and was not to stop in the race as he secured his first F1 victory on that Sunday.

Asked whether he approached this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix emotionally, the seven-time world champion added: "No. In general, I don't particularly feel emotional this weekend. But thinking about it, it would be amazing to finish off with a great result with Mercedes, where I had my first win with them here.

"Well, Mercedes-powered, obviously, back in 2007. And so many great years together here. But to be honest, like every race, we're trying to finish on a high. It hasn't been the case in the first quarter of the season, but I think you've seen, for example, with McLaren switching it around last year and anything's possible.

"So I do think we're moving in the right direction and I really am hopeful that we're going to be in the mix, particularly for the second half of the season."

"The only things that really stick out was just I think just basically from that whole first 12 races, but particularly coming here, first time to Montréal, and immediately like from the get-go., I loved the circuit and gelled well with it and that's always been the case when I've come here I think.

"But I think I was just really living my dream in those first six races, in kind of in disbelief that I'd actually made it and also having the success that we were having, podiums each weekend. And then I think really, ultimately just being on the podium seeing that big trophy that you've seen the greats in the past get to hoist up.

"And I think ultimately looking down and seeing my dad, just how happy he was. It was kind of a relief because of all the sleepless nights and all the energy and time that the family put into it, you know. We finally made it.

"And something that we continuously believed through our career together, that we had the ability to do something like that. And we finally realised it then. So it was a very, very special weekend. And yeah, it's one I will never forget," Hamilton concluded.