Lewis Hamilton has said he is back in a winning mindset after taking his first Ferrari victory in Saturday’s sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton led from lights to flag in the 19-lap sprint on Saturday morning, but could only manage fifth on the grid for Sunday’s full-length grand prix.
Ahead of qualifying, the Ferrari driver made changes to his car’s setup to help with its race pace, but said it came with the side-effect of hampering his single-lap performance.
After winning Saturday morning’s sprint race by seven seconds from McLaren‘s Oscar Piastri, who starts on pole position for the grand prix, Hamilton said he would spend Saturday night in Shanghai coming up with a victory plan.
“If I can do the same thing, yes [the race pace can be strong on Sunday],” Hamilton said. “But again I’m in a much different position as well.
“I feel optimistic for tomorrow. I’d like to get a good start and jump at least one car.
“Tonight I’m just going to make a masterplan of how to win. Then I’ve got to try and execute it! That’s where the mindset is at.”
After the high of sprint race win, Hamilton said ups and downs were to be expected this early in his Ferrari journey.
“There’s going to be swings and roundabouts, right? There’s going to be ups and downs. And again, this afternoon, we didn’t expect to be P5 or P6, at least I didn’t expect to be where I am.
“But it’s what we’re going to be faced with through the season. Just got to try and stay calm, as I said this morning, and just, just leave everything tomorrow and see where we are.”
Source: espn.com