Hamiltonâs first Ferrari race âa big crash courseâ

It was the first wet Australian Grand Prix since 2010
-
Published
Lewis Hamilton said his first race for Ferrari was âa big crash courseâ after he finished 10th in a chaotic Australian Grand Prix.
The seven-time champion led the race briefly but an incorrect strategy call as rain hit late in the race led to him dropping down the field.
Hamilton said: âIt felt like I was in the deep, deep end.â
The 40-year-old added that he âdidnât have any confidence in the car and was nearly in the wall most of the timeâ.
McLarenâs Lando Norris won in Melbourne from Red Bullâs Max Verstappen with Hamiltonâs former Mercedes team-mate George Russell in third.
-
-
Published1 hour ago
-
It was a chaotic start to the season at Albert Park for a race that started wet, dried up and ended wet again, and featured three safety cars, an aborted start and a series of crashes.
Hamilton, who had qualified eighth, said: âIâm grateful I got through it, came out of it with a little bit of something, at least one point.
âObviously I didnât go off or spin. Lacking pace, for sure, but I do believe the car has more performance than we were able to extract this weekend.â
He said that the team left it too late to stop for treaded tyres when the rain came with 13 laps to go â he stopped three laps after Norris and one after Verstappen.
Hamilton said: âThe last sector (of the lap), everyone was going off but I was managing to hold on, so I was just passing people, and once we got to the start line, it was dry.
âSo I was like: âThis is fine for me, Iâve just got to hold this out, Iâve only got a few laps to go.â
âBut then it pelted down just in the last two laps or something, it was coming down, and thatâs the moment we probably should have come in.
âIn that moment, I was like, âoh my God, Iâm thirdâ. I was leading for a second. But I mean, yeah, I donât know if we have anywhere near the pace as the McLarens had today. But I do think in the actual car, there is a lot more performance, I just donât think we unlocked it this week.â
Big surprises & how will Hamilton do?: BBC 5 Live team share 2025 predictions
Team principal Frederic Vasseur admitted Ferrari had made the âwrong decisionâ and they would review the matter before next weekendâs second race of the season in China.
âIt was the first time we have to communicate between the pit wall and car, we can do a better job, it was not a clean one at all.
âWe will have to learn a lot for next weekend and improve the communication. And learn what Lewis is expecting from the communication. Letâs learn from today and be much better next week.â
Ferrari had a difficult weekend. Charles Leclerc, who made the same strategy decisions, started a place ahead of the Briton and finished two places in front after overtaking Hamilton at the final restart.
Vasseur said he believed Ferrari had not optimised their car for the track at Albert Park and that their real position in the field was right behind McLaren, as they had been up to the final part of qualifying.
âThe conditions today are not representative of the performance,â Vasseur said. âFriday to Q2 is more representative.
âAs soon as you overheat the tyres you have a big drop. The real picture of the performance is more what we saw on Friday and Saturday but even then McLaren is one step ahead.
âIf you donât adapt the car to the weekend to the tyres, to the track temp, you are out of the range of performance. Next weekend will be a different one.â
Related topics
-
-
Published6 days ago
-
-
-
Published2 days ago
-