‘I know what to search for’ – Hamilton hopeful after learning ‘a lot’ about his Ferrari during Bahrain GP

Lewis Hamilton says he “learned a lot” about extracting the best from his Ferrari on his way to P5 at the Bahrain Grand Prix, admitting his feeling from Saturday to Sunday was “night and day different”.

Hamilton claimed his best Sunday result of the season since joining the Scuderia this season with a run to fifth in the 57-lap contest at the Bahrain International Circuit. The seven-time World Champion has struggled to find the SF-25’s sweet spot so far this year, which was again evident in Saturday’s Qualifying session that ultimately yielded a ninth-placed grid start – seven spots behind team mate Charles Leclerc.

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However, in Sunday’s race Hamilton was able to make progress and found himself in a podium battle with team mate Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris.

"[The feeling is] night and day different," said Hamilton after the race. "Of course, hard afternoon – to progress was not easy out there, everyone is so close.

“The car is sometimes quite hard to drive and I’m really working hard to adapt my driving style so that’s really what I’ve got to do.

“Also get the set-up where I need it, we got a much better set-up where I moved to where Charles was and he didn’t move away from that all weekend.

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"I think just getting the confidence in that and then adjusting the driving style to it. But the team did a great job with the pit stops today and the strategy.”

Qualifying has been one of Hamilton’s strongest traits throughout his storied F1 career having claimed a mammoth 104 pole positions. While the Brit is only four races into his stint at Ferrari, Sunday’s race pace has given him confidence that he will soon be able to unlock the car’s one lap potential in Qualifying.

“I learned a lot today, and as I saw, that middle stint I was really in line with the car and I had the pace and I was moving forwards,” Hamilton added.

“I need that at the beginning and the end and I need that in Qualifying so I know what to search for now.”

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