Portugal Colonial - Delighted Hamilton rolls back years with vintage runner-up effort

The seven-time champion claimed his best result since joining Ferrari last year, his second podium of the season and the 104th podium of his career.

"I am so happy," he said. "I have to say a huge thank you to my team here. These guys have welcomed me with open arms.

"It has been really tough over the past year and a bit, so to finally find our sweet spot and have a good weekend... it's an amazing feeling.

"We've got an amazing crowd here. I love this track and I can't wait to come back."

Hamilton, 41, claimed his maiden F1 victory in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix and shares the record of seven wins at the circuit with Ferrari great Michael Schumacher.

Buoyed by his strong drive and result, he was optimistic for the future and encouraged Ferrari to believe they can chase down the pace-setting Mercedes team.

In Sunday’s race, Italian teen Kimi Antonelli won for Mercedes to extend his lead ahead over team-mate George Russell to 43 points in the drivers' title race.

"It's definitely encouraging, given that this weekend, Mercedes brought a big upgrade here," said Hamilton.

"A lot of people brought them here -- we brought our big one in Miami and the team are working really hard back at the factory so hopefully we've got some things on the way.

"Considering this is a really straight circuit and we just managed to hold on and get this result, it definitely gives me high hopes for what's ahead, but we've got to keep pushing and keep trying to extract more."

After saying he felt he had been unable to perform and experienced one of the worst weekends of his career, Charles Leclerc came home fourth for Ferrari, but admitted he had no confidence in his car.

"I just couldn't get the tyres working in the window and there is no one to blame for that except me," he said. "Lewis did a great job and showed the potential we have in our car."

X.M.Francisco--PC