Lewis Hamilton believes his fourth-place finish at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix signals Ferrari's growing potential to win races soon.
The seven-time world champion delivered an impressive Sunday performance, climbing from 12th in qualifying to finish behind Max Verstappen and the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
"If we can get that qualifying better and we can race like that then we'll be winning," Hamilton said over team radio after his first race in Italy for Ferrari, as he waved to the Tifosi.
Hamilton's recovery drive showcased his racing prowess as he took advantage of both a Virtual Safety Car and a full Safety Car period.
Lewis Hamilton believes his fourth-place finish at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix signals Ferrari's growing potential to win races soon
REUTERS
In the closing stages, he overtook George Russell, Alex Albon and Charles Leclerc to secure fourth position.
"We didn't expect the result that we had today," Hamilton told Sky Sports.
The British driver had described Saturday's qualifying as "devastating" for the team and admitted he wasn't hopeful of challenging for significant points in Sunday's race.
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Lewis Hamilton finished fourth at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
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Hamilton praised Ferrari's strategic execution at Imola, a stark contrast to his frustrations at the previous Miami Grand Prix where he felt the team had delayed a crucial call to let him pass Leclerc.
"They did such a fantastic job with the strategy. The timing was right, calm and concise and clear - and I felt I won with the car," he said. Hamilton also noted that with better qualifying performance, Ferrari could soon be challenging for race victories.
Ferrari had hoped their upgrades to the rear corner and rear wing would boost their pace at Imola, but both Hamilton and teammate Leclerc struggled with their tyres in qualifying and failed to make it into Q3.
Hamilton's race day challenges continued when he slipped behind Kimi Antonelli at the start. However, he benefitted from a longer first stint than many rivals and then capitalised on fresh tyres following a Safety Car to propel himself from seventh to fourth in the latter stages.
Hamilton felt he might have challenged for a podium if Antonelli's car had been cleared more quickly during the Safety Car period.
"It felt so great to finally get the set-up right and to have that bond with the car throughout the race," he said. "I'm ecstatic. It would have been great to have had some more laps and challenged for a podium."
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The improved strategy execution at Imola marked a significant step forward for Hamilton and Ferrari's collaboration.
Hamilton expressed optimism about Ferrari's trajectory, highlighting the growing partnership with his race engineer.
Max Verstappen celebrates winning the Emilia Romagna Grand PrixGETTY"I think we're slowly getting there and I think me and [race engineer Riccardo Adami] did a fantastic job with his communication with me," he said.
"I was calm, so then I think he was calm, and the team were calm and executing the strategy, and the pit stops were awesome."
