What a difference a year makes, as Lewis Hamilton makes good on his 2.0 promise.

Speaking in the aftermath of pre-season testing, the seven-time world champion insisted that the constantly self-critical driver we'd seen throughout his debut season with Ferrari was no more, that we would never see him again.

While many remain critical of the new rules, Hamilton is revelling in them, making good on his promise as he finally begins to deliver for the Maranello outfit.

Today's Grand Prix saw the Briton storm into the lead and though he subsequently lost out to the sheer grunt of the Mercedes, fought a spirited fight with his Ferrari teammate, delivering his first GP podium for the Italian marque.

Watching him dice with Charles Leclerc, George Russell and teenage sensation Kimi Antonelli, it was easy to forget that in January Hamilton celebrated his 41st birthday.

"I had so much fun," he told reporters at race end. "It's one of the most enjoyable races that I've had in a long, long time... if ever.

"The fact that the cars are the way they are this year and that battle with Charles at the end was awesome, great wheel-to-wheel battle, very fair and just what we want," he added.

"I definitely feel like I'm back to both mentally and physically my best," he continued. "But I still think there's room to improve.

"Training this winter has been the heaviest and the most intense that I've ever had and that probably comes hand in hand with being older, it takes longer to recover," he admitted. "But I've managed to pull these new tools. I've got a great trainer that I've been working with in the past, and we've worked together since Christmas day.

"Then the time with the factory, obviously with a new engineer, and that's obviously been a real good boost as well. Great morale within the team."

At the end of last year, following numerous race weekend when he appeared to be on the verge of quitting, Hamilton made the decision to perform a total reset.

"I decided on Christmas day, how I was going to start this season, I decided what I was going to do mentally and I'm going to continue to tweak that," he said today. "I do think there's more to come. I think I can still eke out more performance from this car. I'm still learning about it as, as I go, particularly with deployment and that.

"The mid-to-end of last year, really digging deep with the engineers and talking to them about the things that I wanted from a car that I didn't have any part of developing last year to then developing the car with them this year. To see them listen and put some of those things that I'd asked for on the car, I'm just incredibly grateful for them for listening on that side of things. It just makes you feel more united with everyone because you're moving in the same direction. So I'm looking forward to getting back next week to Maranello and seeing everybody and big, big push.

"I came into this season with the confidence that I used to have and I think I've stuck at it," he said. "I've been pushing for a podium. It's the hardest thing just to get a podium compared to a lot through my career. It was the biggest challenge to get that. I just had to bide my time and I think coming into the season, really cultivate that really positive mental attitude, and I'm taking that forward with me."

While it was his first podium for Ferrari, his last win was at Spa in 2024 with Mercedes. Asked when his maiden win in red might be, he replied: "I definitely feel that I could say that it's more in sight than ever before.

"Last year it couldn't have been further from view," he admitted.

"These guys in qualifying, somehow we were a little bit closer in qualifying yesterday, but in the race trim, I think they've got four, five tenths on us at the moment," he said of Mercedes. "That's a huge step to pick up both in downforce and efficiency, and then also power.

"That's a huge upgrade that we need to push for. But I really do believe in everyone back in Maranello and that it's not an impossible feat to overcome. So Forza Ferrari, we've just got to keep pushing."

Referring to his battle with his teammate, he said: "I think there was one moment we did touch, but it was subtle. Just a kiss, so it's okay. But, you know, this is what it's about. It's about tough racing."

Seemingly, teammate Leclerc also enjoyed the dog fight.

"I really enjoyed it," said the Monegasque. "It's not very often that I have a smile after P4. I mean, of course, there are many negatives on a race like... I mean, many negatives.

"There's one big negative after a race like this, and this is the gap to the Mercedes. And Lewis and I, obviously, we lost some time, so maybe the gap is a bit bigger than what we thought. We lost when they were gone, we decided that we will fight at least for the podium. So, that didn't optimise our race time, but it didn't change anything to our results.

"Honestly, these cars, for races, it's actually quite fun," he added. "It was just a cool race. I think it was a very fair, hard but fair battle, which was nice. And then, there's also a lot of tactics from inside the cockpit, that is really cool.

"There was obviously this battle for who will get the overtake in the last corner, and we both braked very early, and the way you deploy and manage the energy. So, it was a fun race.

"At the end of the day, Lewis was just stronger and I'm happy for his podium," he smiled. "I'm, of course, disappointed for losing out on the podium on my side, but I know I've given everything, and at the end of the day, Lewis was just stronger this weekend."

"I have to be honest, sometimes you are a bit scared," team boss Fred Vasseur told Sky Germany, "but I trust them that they were in control and that something can happen.

"But on the other hand, it's also very difficult as a team to freeze the positions," he added. "I think they are professional and I really enjoyed this."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Shanghai here.