Portugal Colonial - Hamilton 'rebuilt' his mind to earn first Ferrari triumph

The 41-year-old, who joined the Scuderia last season, won a race for the first time in nearly two years and was emotional after crossing the finish line at Montmelo.

Hamilton said he had needed to shut out doubt and negativity to get back into contention to fight for the championship, in which he trails Mercedes' teenage sensation Kimi Antonelli by 41 points.

"The thing I know is to never second-guess yourself, never doubt yourself, you've got to continue to believe in yourself at the core," Hamilton told reporters.

"Those are the things that I've managed to re-implement into my mentality. And I've rebuilt my mind to this point, to get myself back to where I was.

"It's a great feeling... to stand on that podium."

Hamilton said despite his struggles last season he did not lose his belief that joining Ferrari was the right move.

"I truly believed in my decision in joining Ferrari, I truly believe what this team could achieve, what we could achieve together," explained the British driver.

"I know it started out with lots of excitement and then lots of doubt and lots of negativity that followed through the whole year.

"I really feel like my fans really rescued me last year. My family, also friends, stuck with me through it all."

Hamilton said that for a while doubts were getting to him but he managed to brush them away.

"I'm sure there's moments where I allowed it to get to me and penetrate deeply," he said.

"But then I went through a sequence of unplugging from that 'Matrix', I mentioned a bit last year, and spent lots of time with family, lots of time with friends, real people that know me that have never doubted me and have stuck by me my whole life.

"I just went on the mission from Christmas Day, the training that I put in, was harder than I've ever experienced."

The record seven-time world champion, joint with Michael Schumacher, won his first race with Ferrari in Barcelona, just as the German did in 1996.

"I was at home on my couch watching that, with a plate on my lap eating a sandwich," said Hamilton.

"I was 12, just looking at that red car and thinking, 'I wonder what it's like to sit in that'... which I got to experience last year...

"But then being in that red suit, standing in first place, in front of that amazing crew... it was really amazing to witness and to see.

"I nearly passed out... my heart was exploding with joy."

A.P.Maia--PC