Lewis Hamilton said he "feels like I'm having to remind people who I am" after scoring his second podium in as many races at Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion moved up to second place in the championship, 66 points behind runaway leader Kimi Antonelli, after securing second place finishes at the last two races in Canada and Monaco.
The upturn in results follows a difficult debut season for Hamilton at Ferrari in which he failed to score a grand prix podium and finished a distant sixth in the championship.
At his lowest point in 2025, Hamilton said Ferrari should find another driver as he appeared to lose faith in his own ability.
Now, the 41-year-old believes his return to form has acted as a reminder of his talent and has justified Ferrari's decision to sign him from Mercedes.
"It feels amazing to be up here and such a privilege to still be here, to be driving for Ferrari, to still be one of the 22 drivers in this sport and in front of all these people," Hamilton said.
"To have two seconds, especially I think after a good race in Montreal because everyone was kind of like, 'Yeah, but he's quick there.' I feel like I'm in a period where I'm having to remind people of who I am, and I think my fans last year were telling me to remind me of who I am, and now I'm having to show up each weekend and try to do that.
"I think it's great to see that it's like a rejuvenated love in the team, and I think their belief also in me and the decision in hiring me and everything. So, I'm very happy."
After the difficulties that he experienced in his first year with Ferrari, Hamilton said team principal Fred Vasseur was key to ensuring changes were made to make him feel more comfortable this season.
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"I can't believe that I'm second in the championship and I'm really happy and thankful for that," he said. "I couldn't have done that without this team, without the reliability that we have, and also without Fred.
"Fred has been awesome in supporting me. I think last year was really tough for both of us and [I've been] begging him for certain changes, and he pulled through and he did those, and now I'm seeing the fruits of that and I'm able to finally deliver for them.
"I think it's still very early days in the season, so we just have to keep chasing. It's actually easier to chase than it is to defend, I would say, in life. And so, whilst these guys are very quick and they're an amazing team, we're going to keep pushing, keep chasing, and I have no doubt at some stage we're going to get there."