19/05/2025 07:25
Lewis Hamilton felt a series of Ferrari improvements allowed him to
unlock his comfort with the car not seen since China in the Emilia
Romagna GP. Starting 12th at Imola, Hamilton ran long on the hard
tyres at the start, was able to change tyres to the mediums under
the Esteban Ocon virtual safety car. He then pitted again for fresh
hards under the Kimi Antonelli safety car, putting on a late charge
to finish fourth, just 1.3s behind Oscar Piastri on the podium.
Fourth is Hamilton's best grand prix result for Ferrari, and his
best result since winning the Sprint in China - a level of
performance he has since been unable to access again. However, at
Imola, Hamilton felt he was able to. "There are tons of positives,"
a buoyed Hamilton told media including RacingNews365. "The
strategy was fantastic, they made great calls, and didn't put a
foot wrong, the car felt like China when I was really aligned with
the car - and then the only other time is today, like I really felt
that synergy. "The set-up was great, and we made an improvement in
the race and unlocked our potential. If we had qualified higher, we
would have been fighting for a podium, which I just did not think
was possible. "The whole thing was entertaining, obviously the
beginning wasn't spectacular, but got a decent start and was
squeezed and lost ground to the Mercedes [of Kimi Antonelli]. "I
was just sitting there waiting, and I had to be patient, but the
strategy started to pan out, and the car came alive on the medium
tyres. "I've always loved when you are fighting from further back
and coming through, that is how I started off as a kid at Rye
House. "It is such a better feeling than starting and finishing
first, but definitely, it was a mega race and there are so many
positives to take from it."
