Lewis Hamilton teases “more to come” after “something I’ve fixed” with Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton says there is “more to come” from Ferrari after staging a fightback drive to fourth at the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion bounced back from qualifying 12th at Imola with an impressive recovery to fourth, capitalising on an offset strategy by starting on the hard tyres and the timing of two Safety Car periods.

Hamilton caught and passed teammate Charles Leclerc thanks to his much fresher tyres as he claimed his best result in a grand prix since making his blockbuster move to Ferrari from Mercedes over the winter.

After the race, Hamilton made a reference to “something I’ve fixed” which helped him improve at Imola after an up and down start to life at Ferrari.

"I did think we would make an improvement this weekend with something I've fixed. And I think there is more to come,” Hamilton said.

"The set-up was really good, the car felt really mega and the team did a fantastic job on strategy and pit stops.

"It was a lot of pressure on us with struggling through the year with the car so far, and particularly with our qualifying.

"I don't remember the last time I had a race like that moving forwards. I'm sure there was one last year but this was different because I'm in the red car. To finally have that connection, that synergy with the car, was a really great feeling.

"Bit by bit strategy started to pan out and the car really came alive when I got on to the medium tyres, and a great call at the end.”

Ferrari need to make qualifying gains

After demonstrating strong race pace, Hamilton said Ferrari need to focus on maximising their SF25 over one lap, with qualifying proving the team’s biggest weakness so far this year.

Leclerc and Hamilton were eliminated in Q2 with times good enough for only 11th and 12th on the grid in what turned out to be a disastrous qualifying at Ferrari’s first of two home races this season.

“We just got to unlock the potential in qualifying,” Hamilton said.

“If we had qualified better, we would have been in the fight for a podium, which is something we didn't think would be possible.”

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur added: "It's clear that we are trying to extract the best from the car on Saturday. The last two weekends what we didn't improve is on the set-up in qualifying.

"There is a bit of frustration for us. For sure we need to put all our effort on this."