Quite the difference a day makes. The tone emanating from Ferrari on Saturday was one of total desolation; Lewis Hamilton declared himself “gutted and devastated” after qualifying a mere 12th on the grid, with his teammate just one place ahead. However, come Sunday night, it was difficult to wipe the smile off Hamilton’s face in the Imola media pen.
Of course, if you’d told most of the 242,000 fans – the vast majority decked in red – present earlier in the weekend that fourth and sixth would be the finishing positions for Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, celebrations would have been scant. Hamilton’s first Ferrari race in Italy, in an upgraded car, was meant to mark a season-defining turning point. As such, no silver bullet has been found.
