Lewis Hamilton’s “mindset adjustment” key to encouraging Monza F1 performance

Lewis Hamilton’s change in mindset and demeanour was highlighted by Sky’s Martin Brundle after an encouraging weekend for the seven-time world champion.

Hamilton recovered from his five-place grid penalty, which left him 10th at the start, to finish a respectable sixth.

The 40-year-old carved his way through the field early on, putting pressure on George Russell for fifth place.

Like the leading trio, Hamilton decided to stay out on his hard tyres in a bid to benefit from a Safety Car or switch to the softs.

While Hamilton had better tyres than Russell ahead, he wasn’t able to close him down due to tyre degradation being low on the hard tyre.

Still, it was a step forward for Hamilton after his unusual crash at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Hamilton felt Monza was a missed opportunity as he thought fifth was there for the taking had Ferrari tried to undercut Russell.

Writing in his post-race column, Brundle highlighted Hamilton’s shift in “mindset”, stating that he looked less frustrated about Ferrari’s poor performance.

“Lewis Hamilton was carrying a five-place grid drop for speeding indiscretions going to the grid in Zandvoort which frankly were a fair cop, and he would start 10th, but once again coming though the pack as he did at Silverstone and other races, we would witness Lewis driving as we remember from years previous,” Brundle wrote.

“All round he looked more comfortable in the car, and seems to have had a mindset adjustment of making the best of what he has instead of being frustrated that he's not got a race-winning car underneath him.

“He's probably also come to terms with just how fast Charles Leclerc is. It was nice to observe Lewis looking happier.”

Hamilton thanks Tifosi after Monza

Lewis Hamilton took to his Instagram account to thank the Tifosi - Ferrari’s hardcore Italian base - for “bringing the passion” to the Italian Grand Prix.

Hamilton admitted that he didn’t have the words to describe the support he had received from the Ferrari fans following Friday practice.

He wrote on his Instagram account: “Solid progress in Monza, the penalty made a better result challenging, but I gave it everything. Thank you to the Tifosi for bringing the passion.

“I’m so honoured to be driving for Ferrari and to be on the receiving end of the incredible love. A big thank you to everyone for all their hard work this weekend, and I’m grateful for the progress we’re making together.”