Lewis Hamilton once again conveyed a rediscovered sense of calm and purpose as a Formula 1 driver, saying his present situation is “worlds away” from his first year as a Ferrari driver.
The seven-time World Champion endured a miserable maiden campaign with the Scuderia, with one Sprint Race victory backed-up by a meagre points haul, and, for the first time in his glittering career, zero Grand Prix podiums.
Hamilton frequently appeared withdrawn, quiet and perhaps even defeated, as he struggled to get to grips with the SF-25, a car which has been replaced by a much more responsive SF-26.
The input Hamilton has put into the car has seen him deliver his first victory for the Maranello-based squad, with a further four podiums taking him to second place in the Drivers’ standings.
And speaking ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix – which he has won eight times already – Hamilton reiterated his relief of getting out of the psychological hole he was in previously, as well as issuing praise for his team.
“[I’m] Definitely proud of everyone in the team, and also, I’m definitely proud of myself for digging myself out of the place that I was in,” he said.
“One day, when I do my documentary, I’ll tell you all about that weekend and what led up into it. But to come from there, even coming into this week, I felt a lot from last week, and I arrive worlds away from where I was last year.
“[I’m] Really grateful for where we’ve developed as a team. The pieces to the puzzle that I knew would come together [have] and now we come here with a great car, with a great package as a whole, that we can fight with.”
Lewis Hamilton hopeful Ferrari ‘consistency’ can continue to keep Mercedes on its toes
Hamilton has certainly shown plenty of the combative but composed style, which has held him in good stead across his 20 seasons in F1, so far this season.
With Ferrari implementing changes that cater to his own style, the 41-year-old has been able to maximise a lot from the SF-26, and despite its power deficit to Mercedes, has been able to keep in touch with the Silver Arrows with the summer break coming after this weekend’s race at the Hungaroring.
Hamilton is aware that his former team is very much the team to beat due to its strength in depth with its overall package, but spoke of the consistency Ferrari has shown to keep itself in the fight, albeit as underdogs.
“Every weekend, the goal is to try and extract the most from the weekend I would say we had a couple of really good weekends, and we got to Silverstone and started out strong, and one step in the wrong direction that kind of took us away from competing for a win.
“Same thing last week [at Spa], so that just shows how it can sometimes go in this sport. But I’m still grateful that we’ve had the consistency, and still score on points.
“Normally Kimi [Antonelli] is so fast he pulls away, and he wasn’t ballistic like he normally is, and we were a lot closer than we had thought.
“So to go to two circuits that we thought that we would be quite far behind and be as close as we were, have Charles win the Grand Prix [at Silverstone], and second I think is a real good showing that we’re moving in the right direction.
“We think Mercedes are still the team to beat. They’ve won almost all the races. They’re quick in all circuits, fast and slow speed circuits. They were quick in Monaco, we can anticipate they could be as quick this weekend as well.”
Hamilton will be hopeful of the form book, as well as the lesser energy harvesting, to play into his hands, to ensure a result that will keep him in the fight when F1 returns in Zandvoort in a month’s time.
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