Kimi Raikkonen appears to be back in top form in formula one.
Earlier, some questioned whether the now 36-year-old Finn was still fully motivated and at the top of his game during his second Ferrari tenure.
But he has been re-signed by the Italian team for 2017, and after Sunday’s Singapore grand prix the influential La Gazzetta dello Sport gave him a mark of 9 out of 10.
Only winner Nico Rosberg scored higher, with 9.5.
"Raikkonen was assertive, intelligent and topped it off with the Hamilton pass. Brivissimo," the Italian sports daily declared.
Team boss Maurizio Arrivabene agreed. "With his experience and skills, he proved again that he is a great champion," he said.
Raikkonen’s body language, however, indicated he was not happy with a strategy call that arguably cost him the last podium spot to Hamilton.
Arrivabene said: "We made the decision based on our data. We will now examine whether that information was correct, but Kimi drove like a world champion."