Lewis Hamilton beamed after “one of the most enjoyable races I’ve ever had” ended with him finally standing on a Formula 1 podium for the first time as a Ferrari driver. He endured a difficult first season in red which did not yield a single top-three Grand Prix finish, but that barren run was ended on Sunday when he finished third at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The day belonged to Kimi Antonelli who won for the first time in his nascent F1 career, becoming only the second teenager in history to taste victory in a Grand Prix. George Russell was second to complete another one-two finish for Mercedes, and they were joined on the podium by a former Silver Arrows star in Hamilton.

The seven-time champion finished third after a very entertaining duel with team-mate Charles Leclerc, which contributed to what Hamilton described as one of the most enjoyable races he had ever experienced. He said: “I had so much fun. We had a great start. We weren’t able to keep these guys behind, but to stay in the fight.

“It was 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. It was a great wheel-to-wheel battle, very fair and that’s just what we want. We’ve got to keep pushing.”

Hamilton and Leclerc were both uncompromising in their respective approaches to the battle, but kept it clean and Leclerc said over the radio that he was enjoying it a lot. And Hamilton said afterwards: “There was one moment that we did touch, but it was subtle. Just a kiss, so it’s okay.

“This is what it’s about, it’s about tough racing. I’ve got to say a huge thank you to everyone at Ferrari and back at Maranello for getting us into this position. I know it’s not exactly where we want to be, we want to be up at the front where these guys are, but we’ve got a great platform to work off and we’ve just got to go full gas.”

Hamilton had made a beeling straight for Antonelli after parking up his Ferrari and climbing out, the two racers separated by 22 years in terms of age embracing in parc ferme. And Hamilton also had some congratulatory words to share for the Italian teenager.

He said of Antonelli’s achievement: “I have to say a huge congratulations to Kimi. I’m so, so happy for you buddy and I’m so honoured to be able to share this moment with him. He took my seat at this great team. A big congratulations to Mercedes who are pulling ahead at the moment, we’ve got a lot of work to do to try to keep up.”