Photo: Race Pictures

Hamilton 'glad to be up there' after 'finally figuring out' Ferrari

01:00, 26 Oct

Updated: 02:51, 26 Oct

byKada Sarkozi

Lewis Hamilton feels like he is 'getting there' with the Ferrari car after qualifying in Mexico City.

"I wish we had this experience earlier on in the year, but the fact is that we're continuing to improve and continuing to stay positive."

- Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time world champion said it "feels fresh" to finish inside the top three in qualifying again.

Hamilton had difficulties on Saturday over the course of the season, but put in great laps today to finish third at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

He said: "It's been a long time since I've been up here.

"Really grateful to the team for all the hard work and just the constant effort through the year.

"Of course, I wish we had this experience earlier on in the year, but the fact is that we're continuing to improve and continuing to stay positive, and so it's great to be up here with these two."

Poll

Hamilton explained he is happy to be up there at this difficult circuit. "We're all sliding around in general, so the grip is quite low at this circuit for the altitude that we're in.

"But even with that, clearly everyone's experiencing the same thing and our pace has been great all weekend. I think we've made good steps with the car through the weekend.

"Obviously, I missed FP1 (handing the car over to Antonio Fuoco, ed.), which I wouldn't say hasn't hampered the weekend, but of course you learn more with more laps on the track. I think I got the car to as good a place as I could. It's definitely not easy to put a lap together, but yeah, I'm just happy to be here."

Hamilton driving the SF-25 in qualifying in Mexico - Photo: Race Pictures

Hamilton: 'I'm getting there'

The Brit also explained that he is working together closely with his teammate, Charles Leclerc, to get the most out of the SF-25.

"We continue to improve on our processes, from the moment we arrive to our debriefs to decisions we make as a team within engineering, when we're going out, all these different things. So I think we're just continuously tightening up on some of those areas.

"I think just how Charles and I have worked together to move the car and develop the car forward has been really positive over the race weekends.

"Our cars are pretty much identical now and I'm finally figuring out how to drive this car that Charles has been fortunate to drive for the past seven years in terms of the characteristics, but I'm finally feeling like I'm getting there, so it's good," he concluded.

Hamilton is looking forward to tomorrow's Grand Prix. He previously explained that P3 is the 'perfect slot' on the grid with the long lead-up to Turn 1.

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