Lewis Hamilton's relief after positive F1 Imola GP result

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was the first time he felt at one with his Ferrari Formula 1 car since his China sprint win.

Hamilton's shock pole-to-flag victory in Shanghai proved to be an outlier in what has otherwise been a difficult campaign that has not brought the results he was hoping to achieve on his fresh start in a new environment.

Imola also didn't appear likely to turn around his fortunes after he qualified 12th, one spot behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, but on Sunday afternoon the Briton displayed strong race pace and used strategy and a touch of fortune from the safety car timings to vault up the order to fourth.

Hamilton felt it was the first time since his momentous China win that he felt at one with the Ferrari car, which has received subtle upgrades this weekend.

"China was pretty great, but I've always loved when you're fighting from further back and coming through," Hamilton said. "That's how I started off as a kid. That's always a better feeling than starting and finishing first. But definitely an absolutely mega race and so many positives to take away.

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"The strategy was really fantastic today; they made great calls. In China I felt really aligned with the car and then the only other time is today. I felt that real synergy, and I think the set-up was great. We made a bit of an improvement in our performance for the race."

One negative remains Ferrari's puzzling qualifying pace, with both Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc failing to make the cut in Q2 at the expense of cars from Williams, Alpine, Aston Martin and Racing Bulls.

"We've just got to unlock the potential in qualifying," he acknowledged. "If we had qualified [higher up] we would have been fighting for a podium, which is something we didn't think would be possible."

Hamilton's morale-boosting race came at the perfect time as he made his home debut as a Ferrari driver in front of a record number of spectators, with 242,000 attending over all days combined.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

"It's been incredible, what an amazing experience," the 40-year-old gushed.

"Already on the driver's parade lap all the drivers were doing their normal talking, but I really wanted to see the memorial for Ayrton [Senna]. I even took a picture of it.

"I was taking pictures of the crowd just to see red everywhere. It was just really very reminiscent of when I was growing up watching it on my couch, having a bacon sandwich watching Michael Schumacher racing here with Ferrari and seeing the connection.

"It was quite an incredible experience to think that I'm now here in one of the two Ferraris. And having that connection with such a large passion, for me it's unbelievable."