Huge potential at Ferrari as Hamilton "could have qualified in the top three" in China

Lewis Hamilton has admitted that Ferrari made a mistake at the Chinese Grand Prix as he "could have qualified in the top three", but he knows the Scuderia has huge potential.

The seven-time world champion looked back to his best in Formula 1 with an impressive sprint performance at the Shanghai International Circuit, taking both sprint pole and sprint victory.

But a change in setup for the 40-year-old meant he lost the pace and balance he had with the SF-25, unable to challenge the McLarens at the front of the grid for the rest of the weekend.

Hamilton in action at the Chinese Grand Prix

Hamilton sees potential, hoping for better execution

Teammate Charles Leclerc said that Hamilton outdrove the car during the sprint sessions in Shanghai, but the Briton knows more was possible for the rest of the weekend.

"I think if we had just left the car alone, or the setup that we did take was an improvement, I think we could have qualified in the top three," said Hamilton.

"We would then have had a much different result, most likely. But it wasn't the case, and it was really difficult to drive from the moment we went out in qualifying, and then it was the same balance on the Sunday, so we just had to persevere with it."

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The 40-year-old knows better execution throughout the weekend will be needed, and more discourse with engineers as the season goes on will improve that.

"In this period of time, I'm not directing my engineers," continued Hamilton. "I mean, more so probably when I was at Mercedes, obviously, I knew the car, I knew all the tools, so it was kind of like, 'This is where I want to go, this is what I want to do,' more often than not.

"At Ferrari, we’re making notes, and then you have to take a lot of the guidance from those who have spent time with all the different world champions before me, and as a team, we didn't make the right choice for quali on either car."

Hamilton laughs at Leclerc's "interesting setup"

While Hamilton may have outperformed the car on Saturday compared to Leclerc, his teammate found some extra pace during the Grand Prix, all happening with a damaged car, which the Brit found amusing.

"What was interesting was the improved balance that Charles had with the damage to his car. It was fascinating to see. It was a big, big improvement, to say the least," concluded Hamilton with a smile.