Hamilton calls sprint race victory a great response to 'yapping critics' · RaceFans

Lewis Hamilton said his victory in the sprint race in Shanghai was the perfect response to those who criticised his performance on his Ferrari debut last week.

He finished 10th on his debut for Ferrari in Melbourne, the worst start for a newcomer at the team in 16 years. He rebounded in style in Shanghai, claiming pole position for the sprint race and leading every lap to take his first victory in the format.

Criticism of Hamilton’s performance in Melbourne focused on his radio exchanges with race engineer Riccardo Adami, a small portion of which was played on the world television feed. Hamilton said earlier in the weekend he was surprised by the “negativity” in response to their communications.

“The first race was difficult,” he acknowledged. “I really do feel a lot of people underestimated the steep climb it is to get into a new team, to become acclimatised within a team, understanding and communication and all sorts of things.

“The amount of critics and people I’ve heard yapping along the way, just clearly not understanding maybe because they never had the experience or are just unaware. So it felt great to come here and feel more comfortable in the car.

“In Melbourne I really didn’t feel comfortable in the car. From lap one here this weekend [I was] really feeling on it. We’ve done a great job, the engineers have done a great job, mechanics have done a great job to really fine-tune the car and it felt great today.”

The race was dominated by tyre management and several drivers encountered problems with graining. Hamilton’s race engineer Riccardo Adami praised his performance in looking after his rubber, which was aided by him running in clear air all race.

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“I got a good start,” he said. “There’s so much grip on this new Tarmac, it’s really hard to look after these tyres, but I think everyone was struggling the same.”

Despite his early success, Hamilton said Ferrari must not get too excited about their potential for the season ahead.

“I said the other day, Rome wasn’t built in one day. One step at a time. We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. We cannot.

“We’ve got to continue to push. We’ve got to be diligent and just remain focused, stay calm. Most importantly, stay calm, because these moments get us all excited.

“We’ll be back at our desks after this and focused on qualifying this afternoon. It’s a long, long way. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, so we’ve just got to take our time.”