<p>An upbeat <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/other-sports/article/wet-and-wild-win-23500744" target="_blank" rel="none noopener"><strong>Lewis Hamilton</strong></a> declared on Thursday that things would be different at the Chinese Grand Prix after a disappointing debut with Ferrari in Melbourne, believing his new team &ldquo;can close the gap&rdquo; on McLaren.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The seven-time world champion qualified eighth and finished 10th at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just going to set the car up a bit different this weekend,&rdquo; Hamilton told reporters ahead of his second outing in red at the Shanghai International Circuit, where he has won on a record six occasions.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think as I get more and more comfortable and more knowledgeable about the car, I can start making more decisions [about its set-up]. I&rsquo;m having those discussions and going to lean a little bit more with adding my experience,&rdquo; he added.</p>
<p>Hamilton&rsquo;s former Mercedes teammate George Russell told reporters that McLaren which claimed victory in Australia thanks to Lando Norris, were quick enough to win every race. But Hamilton cautioned: &ldquo;It has only been one race. Yes, McLaren has done a great job and they&rsquo;re looking very strong. We&rsquo;re still just taking the time to learn the car and to be able to extract more from it.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;We definitely have work to do, but I think we can close the gap to McLaren,&rdquo; added Hamilton. Hamilton conceded it had been a poor weekend for Ferrari in Melbourne, where the team strategists gambled and lost on leaving him out on slick tyres when he was leading as rain returned.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I mean, it wasn&rsquo;t the race that we wanted, but it&rsquo;s not a moment to throw the toys out the pram. It is what it is. One small thing could have made a big difference in our result, but yeah, we move forward. Everyone&rsquo;s still motivated. The energy is still good in the garage. We&rsquo;re not going to be defined by that one race,&rdquo; said the Briton.</p>
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Despite finishing 10th in Australia, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton is confident his team can find the pace to battle McLaren at Chinese GP this weekend

‘We can close the gap’

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‘We can close the gap’

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