Lewis Hamilton says many of his critics have “jammed along the road” and don’t understand the magnitude of the tasks they face when they are looking for a gentle job after a victory in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint.
When Hamilton left Mercedes after 12 seasons, his seven-time world champion’s move to Ferrari has attracted much attention. Hamilton believes there is an overreaction to the struggles of his first race in Melbourne as he tries to adapt to his new team, and he feels he is soon better positioned with his new car before taking a comfortable victory with the Sprint pole.
“I woke up because of the beautiful weather in Shanghai today. I knew there was this amazing crowd, but the first race was difficult,” Hamilton said. “And I really feel that a lot of people underestimate steep climbs: getting into a new team, adjusting within the team, understanding, communication, adapting all sorts of things.
“The amount of critics and people I heard that they were yapping along the way may not be obvious because they have or have no experience, so it was great to come here and feel more comfortable in the car.
“I’ve been feeling this weekend since lap 1. The engineers have done a great job. The mechanics have done a great job. I’ve done a lot of tweaking today.
Hamilton held back Max Verstappen in the first half of the race before pulling out clear to win from Oscar Piastri in almost seven seconds, but he says the same mantra is the truth that Ferrari shouldn’t be engrossed in the outcome.
“I don’t feel pressure. I know Tifosi, I know the fans, I know the team wants to win, and I know that it means everything to them.
“We have to keep pushing. We must be hardworking, focused and calm. Most importantly, we all get upset as these moments will make us all excited. After this, we will focus on qualifying this afternoon. It’s a long way.
Hamilton appeared to have a Red Bull scale during the sprint, but the McLaren threat is expected to be greater if Piastri and teammate Rand Norris can improve their qualifying positions for the sprint.
“I think it was a really productive sprint,” Piastri said. “Clearly finishing second is always a great result, and I think I learned a lot from it, and as much as good the way you get results is encouraging.
“We didn’t have enough pace for Lewis in front of us, but I think we have a good idea this afternoon and tomorrow.
“Yes, hopefully, there isn’t that much traffic, but that’s the plan. I’ll make sure I can start a little higher this afternoon and go from there. But I think we’re clearly going to have a lot of competition this weekend. The Ferrari looks pretty fast.