Lewis Hamilton was buoyed by his run from 12th to 4th at the Emilio Romagna Grand Prix, with the seven-time world champion admitting that doing it in front of Ferrari’s home fans for the first time was a “really great feeling”.
The Italian team had a disastrous qualifying session on Saturday, with both Leclerc and Hamilton crashing out in the second round – finishing 11th and 12th – meaning they face a tough race.
Both drivers showed fighting spirit, with Hamilton pulling off a series of overtakes – with the added benefit of a well-timed pit stop during the virtual safety car, as he was among those driving an extended first stint – to eventually finish fourth – less than two seconds behind Oscar Piastri who was third.
After exiting the car, Hamilton was asked if working his way back up the order in front of the enthusiastic Tifosi was the scenario he had dreamed of during his first season as a Ferrari driver.
“I mean, of course I couldn’t hear them, but driving in front of the Tifosi today and this weekend was one of the most important experiences of the year,” said Hamilton.
“There was a lot of pressure on us as a team because we struggled with the car throughout the season, especially in qualifying, so to have a race like this, moving forward, gaining positions – it’s a really great feeling.”
“I would say I can’t remember the last time I had a race like this where you were constantly improving. Maybe there was one last year, but this one is special because I’m driving for Ferrari and I haven’t experienced that yet, so to finally have that connection, that synergy with the car today and make progress was a really great feeling.”
Although this race seemed to show some progress and positive changes to the SF-25 car, Hamilton was cautious with optimism, but admitted that there were many positive aspects that the team could analyze.
“I don’t want to be judgmental, but there are certainly a lot of positives to take away from today’s race and we had some good pace, so we really need to analyse where and why,” said the Briton. “I thought we were going to make progress this weekend with the things we’re trying to fix and I think there’s still room for improvement, but the car set-up was really good.”
“The car was fantastic in terms of set-up, and the strategists and the team did a great job with the strategy decisions and pit stops, so the overall performance of Ferrari was top-notch.”
