Lewis Hamilton is convinced Ferrari "has absolutely every ingredient" to succeed despite the negative spiral in which he found himself before F1's summer break.
The wave of positivity which engulfed Hamilton and the Scuderia earlier this year following his arrival, has long since disappeared.
Aside from a sprint victory in the second race of the season in China, the seven-time F1 champion has yet to finish on the podium in 14 grands prix this year. In contrast, team-mate Charles Leclerc has scored five.
Hamilton hit his nadir for this campaign in Hungary, failing to finish in the points for the first time since the event in Shanghai. The 40-year-old vociferously criticised himself, suggesting there would be "tears" during the summer shutdown in his attempt to come to terms with his poor form.
There is still a period of adaptation Hamilton is going through with Ferrari, and a period of realisation for all concerned that not everything can be transformed in a matter of months.
In terms of ensuring everybody ultimately pulls in the same direction, speaking to the media, including RacingNews365, Hamilton said: "It's just trying to understand the environment that you're in, that you have to adapt.
"And I think the people you work with ultimately will learn to adapt, to cater to you.
"This year, there have been so many great things, and the response has been amazing to the steps that we have taken in all areas.
"The passion and the desire to continue to do better is what's the most amazing thing. In this team, everyone wants to do better and find ways to be better.
"That's why I know this team has absolutely every ingredient that is needed to succeed. I truly believe in that. That's why I signed."
In the build-up to the Belgian Grand Prix the week previously, Hamilton had surprisingly revealed to putting together a dossier on where he felt improvements were required, drawing on his volume of experience with Mercedes, in particular, where he won six of his drivers' championships.
There followed the added boost of team principal Fred Vasseur signing a new contract with the team, ending growing speculation that he could be out of a job at the end of the season following Ferrari's failure to challenge McLaren this season.
As to whether Vasseur would be in a strong position to act on them, Hamilton said: "It was just ideas, like, 'Hey, what if we did this?; Have we tried this? If we did this, perhaps we can ease up in certain areas, or we can be better.
"It's about having conversations, and Fred has been really responsive."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes and Nick Golding, as they look ahead to F1's return from the summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix. The wet weather risk for both McLaren drivers at Zandvoort is discussed, as is how Lewis Hamilton will approach media day.
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