Lewis Hamilton is hoping to make his long-awaited return to the podium at this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
It has been a challenging year for Hamilton thus far. The Briton has struggled to get to grips with his new Ferrari car, failing to finish higher than fourth in a race as he has been roundly outpaced by his teammate Charles Leclerc.
But on return to Silverstone, where he is a record nine-time winner, he has found renewed form, topping first practice and finishing Friday’s second session just three-tenths off the top spot.
After an encouraging showing, he said Ferrari could dream of a ‘strong weekend’.
"It was a really good day,” he grinned. “Great to see the crowd, amazing to be out on track in a Ferrari here at Silverstone.
"The Red Bull and McLaren have an upgrade, so for us to be in the mix still given they have had a step today is really positive.
"Definitely feel we can dream of having a strong weekend but putting it all together and extracting it is another thing.”
He will, however, be relying on some British weather to narrow the gap between Ferrari and the championship leaders: "I will prepare myself the best I can to make sure we get the best result. Tomorrow and Sunday there is rain coming as well."
Speaking with a confidence which has too often been absent this season, Hamilton insisted he can go even faster ahead of qualifying on Saturday.
"The car felt good in both sessions, even though I hit some traffic on my fastest lap in FP2, so there’s definitely time to find.”
Championship leader Oscar Piastri of McLaren said Ferrari presented a threat: "They looked good, both in the qualifying runs and the longer runs as well," said Piastri, who leads teammate Lando Norris by 15 points after 11 of 24 races.
"I think they’re in the fight this weekend which is interesting to see."
Ferrari, second overall, are the only top-four team yet to win this season, or take pole position for a regular grand prix rather than a sprint.
They were McLaren's closest rivals in Austria last weekend, however, with Leclerc third and Hamilton fourth in a race won by Norris with Piastri second.
Silverstone should play to Ferrari's strengths with its high-speed corners and long straights and the team also successfully debuted a new floor in Austria.
"In general the Ferraris have been very, very quick today and they shall be tomorrow," Norris told F1 TV. "So I think we have a bit of work to do."
McLaren boss Zak Brown also highlighted the red cars' speed.
"The Ferraris look very strong over one lap and race pace. A little early but Ferrari look very tough," the American told Sky Sports.
Norris stands a slim chance of unseating Hamilton as the home crowd’s favourite driver this weekend. He was top of the second session with a best effort of one minute 25.816 seconds, with Charles Leclerc 0.222 slower.
"I think we have a bit of work to do, to be honest," said Norris. "It looks maybe a bit too good today, like always.”
Additional reporting: Reuters
