“We hear that…” Ferrari problem overcome by Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain

Lewis Hamilton left the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix as the official ‘driver of the day’ after his run to fifth.

It represented a remarkable 24-hour turnaround after his despondency on Saturday post-qualifying.

“It happens every Saturday,” he sighed after qualifying ninth but he would enjoy a far more productive grand prix in Lusail.

Hamilton was P5, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc, giving Ferrari their best grand prix finish of the season.

However, that speaks volumes about the struggles faced by Ferrari who brought a slew of upgrades to Bahrain to somehow jolt life into their campaign.

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari 'closed the gap'

“It’s been tricky, a tricky start for Lewis at Ferrari. Yesterday he was particularly down,” Sky Sports’ Naomi Schiff said.

“Coming into this weekend, it felt like energy was particularly low.

“From our understanding, we hear that they aren’t able to run the car in the optimum setup.

“That has been frustrating for both drivers.

“They brought the new floor here this weekend. Clearly they have closed the gap because both Charles and Lewis, towards the end, were very competitive.

“Lewis always come back alive on a Sunday. His issues are on a Saturday with qualifying pace.

“But with long run pace situations, he’s always a lot more on it. You can feel his energy is lifted, as soon as he delivers performance.”

Leclerc left Bahrain bemoaning Ferrari’s lack of pace, but for Hamilton his issues clearly lie during qualifying.

It was suggested that, next weekend at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Ferrari tell Hamilton to test quali sims during practice sessions on the Friday.

“I don’t know,” was Schiff’s reaction. “I guess that’s an option - but it feels like something you do with a younger driver.

“Lewis understands the processes to get that car into the window it needs to be in qualifying.

“I don’t know what’s lacking with him. Whether it’s confidence in the car, he’s talking about engine braking, every week it seems he’s mentioning more issues that he’s struggling to get on top of, after coming from another team.

“For him it’s about being on track, driving as much as possible, getting to know this car, getting on top of those issues in the lower fuel runs.”

Hamilton’s season so far has peaked with a sprint race win in China but P5 in Bahrain is his best grand prix result so far.