By Saajan Jogia

Copyright newsweek

Former Formula One driver and Sky Sports F1 presenter Martin Brundle has pointed out a “mindset adjustment” behind Lewis Hamilton’s strong pace at the Italian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion started the race in P10 after attracting a five-place grid penalty, but recovered four positions to finish in sixth place.Hamilton’s Ferrari debut might not have gone as per his expectations, given the struggles he has had to undergo to adapt to the SF-25 F1 car. Securing a P12 at the Hungarian Grand Prix race before the summer break was one of those moments where the Briton was visibly low, as he went to the extent of calling himself “useless.”However, the race at Monza saw him pushing hard, as he felt more comfortable with his car. The cheers from the Tifosi throughout the race weekend also contributed to the boost he received, leading him to secure points for Ferrari. Brundle believes Hamilton has also come to terms with his teammate Charles Leclerc’s pace, and admitted that the 40-year-old driver looked happier at Monza. Writing in his Sky F1 column, Brundle stated:”Lewis Hamilton was carrying a five-place grid drop for speeding indiscretions going to the grid in Zandvoort which frankly were a fair cop, and he would start 10th, but once again coming though the pack as he did at Silverstone and other races, we would witness Lewis driving as we remember from years previous.”All round he looked more comfortable in the car, and seems to have had a mindset adjustment of making the best of what he has instead of being frustrated that he’s not got a race-winning car underneath him. He’s probably also come to terms with just how fast Charles Leclerc is. It was nice to observe Lewis looking happier.”Hamilton acknowledged the improved confidence at the Italian GP but admitted that the car was lacking pace to finish in the top three positions. He said:”I think this weekend built a lot on my confidence with the car. Definitely it’s still not 100% comfortable in the car. Ultimately that’s kind of an alien driving style with a car that I’m not 100% comfortable with, but I think overall our performance was fairly decent. I think we obviously don’t have the pace of the cars much further ahead, so competing for top three is off the cards for a while, but we keep pushing and trying to extract more.”The Ferrari driver revealed that more track time has been helping him get better. He said:”I think what’s clear for me is that I know I’ve been driving this car all year long, but in my previous years I was a part of a car that you’re evolving over time and you’re comfortable with it, you know the driving style inside and out, and I think this year I’m arriving at the track and having to apply this new driving style that is still alien to me, it doesn’t feel natural, to a car that’s how it likes to work.”Through the race I’m just getting better and better and faster and faster and I’m unlocking in that and gaining confidence bit by bit, but that’s not there early on in the weekend to really be able to harness it. If we were to be qualifying now, I think I would have been quite a bit quicker, but that’s all a part of it. Hopefully next year it’s not a driving style that’s alien to me, hopefully I can go back a little bit towards what I was used to and…”