Sir Lewis Hamilton has claimed that he is delighted that Ferrari have been able to return to the top step of the podium, and is hopeful that there are improvements coming soon for his Mercedes team.
Charles Leclerc took victory from pole at the Bahrain International Circuit on Sunday as he led team-mate Carlos Sainz across the line for their first 1-2 finish since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix.
After over thirteen years without a championship, Hamilton is glad to see the Scuderia back in race-winning form.
READ: ‘I’m not going to lie’: Sainz admits Leclerc deserved Bahrain GP victory
“Firstly, a big, big congratulations to Ferrari, I’m so happy to see them doing well again,” he told Martin Brundle in his post-race interview.
“They’re such a historic, epic team so it’s great to see Carlos and Charles up there as well, so congratulations to them.”
The 37-year-old ended the race third after an immensely challenging weekend for him and team-mate George Russell, who were affronted by the “porpoising” and handling issues posed by the new technical regulations.
His podium came by virtue of reliability failures putting both Red Bull drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, out of the race, and the seven-time world champion is “grateful” for the 15 points at the end of a difficult three days.
“It was such a difficult race; we’ve struggled throughout practice. This is really the best result we could have got and it’s unfortunate for the other two drivers [Verstappen and Perez] but we did the best we could and we’re grateful for these points,” he added.
The 103-time race winner was then asked if any potentially influential upgrades were on the way from the Brackley squad to help vanquish their problems.
“I’m hoping,” he replied with a chuckle.
“I know the guys are working really hard back at the factory and it’s not going to be a quick turnaround but we all know as a team, I do feel that we’ve been the most unified team for so long.
“We all know that [we need to] keep [our heads down], keep working and there’s a long, long way to go.”
READ: Mercedes roast fan for ditching them for Ferrari
Having qualified seven tenths behind Leclerc, the Briton affirmed that he will sleep well “for sure” tonight.
The podium in Bahrain was the 183rd of Hamilton’s illustrious career.