Lewis Hamilton has expressed his delight after finishing fourth at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, with the Ferrari star looking much more comfortable.
The 41-year-old had a debut campaign to forget in 2025 but only George Russell, Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc finished ahead of him at Albert Park.
It was a positive day for Ferrari, with both of their drivers challenging Russell and Antonelli. Following the introduction of new regulations, the Italian-based side seem considerably improved.
Hamilton, when asked if he had feelings of 'what if', made his stance clear.
"No. I have to go back and have a look but I'm generally really proud of the team," he said.
"They have done an amazing job to get the car to where it is. Of course, we are not as fast at Mercedes and we have work to do but we are right in the fight.
"It was a really fun race and it felt good or me. A couple more laps and I would have had Charles, so I had great pace. Lots of positives to take from today."
Lewis Hamilton has expressed his delight after finishing fourth at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, with the Ferrari star looking much more comfortable
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Hamilton also admitted he was pleased with Ferrari's weekend overall, with the side also making progress in practice and qualifying before the main event.
"All weekend I've been really strong," he continued.
"Qualifying didn't show the true pace. We had a few problems through qualifying which meant I was further back than I should have been.
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F1 facts fans might not know | GETTY/GBNEWS"We went into today and none of us really knew what the true pace would be but I felt great from the get-go.
"There's lots of positives but we have a lot of work to do to catch Mercedes but it's not impossible.
"I believe we can close the gap. It's not going to be easy, it's got a lot of work to do because it's quite significant, particularly on a single lap.
"We need to find out whether it's power, or battery power, but the cars are just as quick through the corners so we need to keep pushing."
His teammate Leclerc also opened up, with the 28-year-old explaining how new rules impacted the race.
"It was a very tricky race!" he said.
Lewis Hamilton finished behind only three drivers during Sunday's Australian Grand Prix
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"Honestly, at the start, none of us knew what to expect with the fights, the energy. It's even more tricky with the overtakes.
"You don't know when your battery will cut on the straights, so while defending there are massive speed differences.
"It was quite challenging but I was happy to get out of the battle in first.
"Unfortunately, that didn't help us for the rest of the race but it was a fun first part of the race. P3 was the best we could do today."
Winner Russell, meanwhile, described himself as 'mega happy'.
The races are now set to keep coming thick and fast, with the next Grand Prix due to take place at the Shanghai International Circuit in China on March 15 (7am).