Lewis Hamilton names key Ferrari improvement which unlocked 'China form'

Lewis Hamilton believes a series of Ferrari upgrades enabled him to rediscover his comfort with the car, a feeling he hadn't experienced since the Chinese Grand Prix.

Starting from 12th at Imola, Hamilton employed an extended stint on hard tires. He then switched to mediums under the virtual safety car triggered by Esteban Ocon's incident. Following another pit stop for fresh hard tires during the Kimi Antonelli safety car period, Hamilton mounted a late charge, ultimately finishing fourth, narrowly behind Oscar Piastri on the podium by just 1.3 seconds.

This fourth-place finish marks Hamilton's best Grand Prix result for Ferrari and his strongest performance since winning the Chinese Sprint race, a level of performance he had struggled to replicate until now.

"There are tons of positives," a visibly pleased Hamilton commented to the media. "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 I got a decent start and was squeezed and lost ground to the Mercedes. 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."