Hamilton: I'm starting to understand how to drive a Ferrari.
Having qualified third in Mexico, Lewis Hamilton spoke about the team's progress…
Question: Lewis, third place — your best start this year with Ferrari. What does this result mean to you?
Lewis Hamilton: I'm grateful to the team for the hard work throughout the year. Of course I'd have liked us to have performed at this level earlier, but it's great that we're making progress and keeping a positive mindset.
Question: Tell us about the car. It seems Ferrari is coming into form. Are you satisfied?
Lewis Hamilton: Relatively satisfied. It's a tricky circuit. Because of the high altitude the grip is low, the cars from all teams slide, but we look decent and were able to improve over the course of the weekend.
On Friday I missed the first practice. I wouldn't say it hindered me, but the more laps you do around the track the more you learn about it. I think I brought the car to the highest possible level, but here it's very hard to put everything together for a flying lap.
Question: You said the team has optimized all processes. What did you mean?
Lewis Hamilton: We keep improving all our processes — from arriving at the track to debriefs, including the mechanism for engineering decisions. We're constantly refining some of these areas. And I think the work Charles and I have done on developing the car has played a part.
Right now our cars are almost identical, and I'm finally beginning to understand how to drive the Ferrari that Charles has had the privilege of racing for the past seven years. I finally feel like I'm getting close to the target. So all is good.
Question: What are your plans at the start? Stick to Lando, attack on the brakes and overtake into the first corner?
Lewis Hamilton: I don't know. But I want to race. I have nothing to lose, and he does. So I will... We'll be aggressive. Hopefully we'll be close enough to fight.
Question: How difficult is it in Mexico to follow another car, to make progress through the disturbed airflow?
Lewis Hamilton: It's difficult because of the high altitude, because of overheating of the car and the brakes. I don't know about everyone, but most teams have cooling issues here. So it won't be easy. But we'll see how it turns out.
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Hamilton: I'm starting to understand how to drive a Ferrari.
After qualifying third in Mexico, Lewis Hamilton spoke about the team's progress…
