Lewis Hamilton expressed his delight after qualifying fifth for the Spanish Grand Prix, matching his best grid position since joining Ferrari and outqualifying teammate Charles Leclerc for just the second time this season.
The seven-time world champion said he was "really happy" with the result, which saw him secure a spot in Q3 despite a challenging Friday practice session.
Leclerc qualified seventh, with Hamilton's superior grid position putting Ferrari in a strong position heading into Sunday's 66-lap race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Hamilton's improved performance came after Ferrari resolved significant technical issues that had plagued his Friday practice sessions.
Hamilton explained: "Friday started off fun, but we had some problem with the floor in FP2 and I was losing a lot of downforce."
The team successfully addressed the floor problem overnight, transforming Hamilton's driving experience, with Hamilton saying they "fixed it for today and the car was much more drivable".
The Briton continued to say it had made it "much more enjoyable".
This technical breakthrough proved crucial in allowing Hamilton to find the pace needed to progress through qualifying and secure his position in the top five on the grid.
The 40-year-old was impressed and claimed Ferrari have made an "improvement", upon his reflection.
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"We clearly have made an improvement going into qualifying to get into Q3 when it's so close and to be in the top five, I'm really happy with that."
Hamilton has set his sights on achieving his first Grand Prix podium since joining Ferrari, acknowledging the lengthy drought since his last top-three finish.
He stated: "My goal is to try and get a podium. I've not had one for God knows how long."
His last Grand Prix podium came at November's Las Vegas Grand Prix where he finished second for Mercedes, marking 11 races without a podium finish.
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Hamilton has recorded only one podium in his last 18 race starts, making today's opportunity particularly significant.
The Briton emphasised the importance of race execution, noting: "The key will be getting a good start."
The strategic element for Sunday's race centres on tyre allocation, with Hamilton noting the complexity of the choices ahead.
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"The long run is going to be challenging tomorrow for everybody. I think most people have mostly softs and one medium, Charles and a couple of other people have two mediums," he said.
Leclerc, however, deliberately sacrificed qualifying performance to secure better race strategy options.
He claimed: "We were one of the only cars to have only four sets of softs for qualifying, all the others around us had five new softs.
"I wanted to use only three softs which made our lives a lot more difficult. I take responsibility for it as the team had pushed for a different way."
The Monégasque driver remains confident his gamble will pay dividends on race day, in what promises to be a closely contested field.
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