Lewis Hamilton recently responded to critics after securing his first victory with Ferrari during the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion managed to tie this achievement into his second outing for the iconic team, and he’s feeling optimistic about his prospects for Sunday’s main race, starting from fifth on the grid.
Though Hamilton didn’t specifically name anyone, he alluded to those critics as lacking insight into the challenges of immediately succeeding with a new team. At 40, Hamilton shared, “People seem to seize any chance to be negative. They’ll focus on the smallest aspects and twist them negatively.” He continued, “We’re living in tough times for sure.”
Speaking candidly, Hamilton admitted to noticing people he’s long admired getting it wrong: “I don’t usually follow news closely, but I catch snippets, and it’s surprising to find long-respected figures making off-the-cuff, uninformed comments. It shows a real lack of understanding or appreciation.”
His debut race for Ferrari in Australia the previous weekend was rough; he ended up eighth in qualifying and finished 10th overall. Yet, in Shanghai, he secured pole position for the sprint and then dominated the race, leaving behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
“I felt remarkably calm,” Hamilton reflected. “More so than usual, there was a peacefulness in me today that I’ve missed for a while now. I arrived at the car early, wanting to soak in the moment as it had been quite some time. It was a great start and a tough race.”
He found it challenging to articulate the experience, saying, “Yes, it’s a sprint race, not the main event, but it feels like an important step toward my goals.”
After the sprint, Ferrari tweaked their car alongside other teams optimizing their setups, resulting in Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc positioned on the third row together. Piastri nabbed pole with Mercedes’ George Russell and McLaren’s Lando Norris, who celebrated a win in Australia, close behind.
Meanwhile, Verstappen pulled ahead to fourth on the starting grid for the grand prix, ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc. Hamilton explained, “We adjusted the car for better race performance, but that made our single-lap stints tricky.” He admitted, “The car was quite twitchy, and my laps weren’t perfect toward the end. I should have been faster, maybe by 0.1 or 0.2 seconds. We’re nearly there, just not quite perfect.”
Looking to tame the grid, he confessed, “I’m hopeful for tomorrow. I want a strong start to overtake early, then gradually climb up. Tonight calls for crafting a solid strategy to lay everything down perfectly on race day.”
In Leclerc’s words, “As a team, we’ve maximized the car’s potential, yet what’s most vital is comprehensively understanding where our car’s strength went.”
