Yesterday around the time the whole world wrote from the great Ferrari debacle in Imola. There was bitter disappointment after the double Q2 of the Scuderia and probably nobody would have expected Lewis Hamilton on Sunday almost on the podium. In the end, he was only missing 1.4 seconds for the first real podium in red.
“I definitely didn’t expect to be fourth today,” cheered the seven -time world champion after the race towards “Sky”. “I didn’t know where we would land because we started so far back. But the car felt really great,” he says.
Hamilton also praises the “fantastic strategy” and the “great decisions” by Ferrari, which rinsed him forward. You have to mention that the two (virtual) safety car phases Hamilton played a lot into the cards.
The Brit had started on the hard tire and had been infected by the early stops of the other pilots in the car and also wanted to drive into the box early. However, his team denied this, so that Hamilton could switch to medium at the right moment and could open up new tires again during the real Safety car phase.
“I had the hard tire on it and just sat there, waited,” he says. “I had to be really patient, take a deep breath. Little by little the strategy paid off. And when I switched to the medium tires, the car really awakened to life – and then I really caught up in the end.”
Five rounds more for the podium
Hamilton says that he felt really well connected to the car for the first time since China. “I felt this right synergy and I think the set-up was great. I think we have made a little improvement in our racing performance.”
“We just have to unlock the potential in qualifying,” he knows. “If we had been better qualified, we could have fought for a podium, which we thought was impossible beforehand.”
The podium almost existed in the end after he had initially passed Alexander Albon (Williams) when he was pushed into the gravel bed by Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc before he also grabbed the Monegassen.
But the catch -up on Oscar Piatri, who had much older tires, should no longer be quite successful. “I think I would probably have needed five rounds or something to get really close enough to be able to attack,” he says.
Emotional moments with fans
But even so he is very satisfied with today’s race. “I’ve always loved it when you have to fight yourself from the back. So I started as a child,” he laughs. “It always gives you a better feeling than starting from first place and getting to the finish. But definitely an absolute mega race, so many positive things that you can take with you.”
With his race, of course, he also delighted the Ferrari fans in Imola on Sunday and put a successful first home game. He definitely enjoyed the weekend in Imola because he could connect to the fans.
“It really reminded me of my childhood when I was sitting on the sofa at home, ate a ham sandwich and saw Michael Schumacher for Ferrari. Experience this connection – it was a pretty incredible feeling to sit in one of the two Ferraris,” he says. “It is just incredible for me.”