Lewis Hamilton admitted that Ferrari’s debut “went much worse” than he expected after the 10th champion was completed seven times in the 10th in the Australian Grand Prix.
After moving to Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes, Hamilton endured a difficult weekend in Melbourne as he qualified for eighth before claiming the final point of Sunday’s chaotic race.
The 40 -year -old British was frustrated by a missed opportunity, as Ferrari pushed a strategy game too far, with a decision to stay out of tires in the rain first by putting Hamilton in a dispute on the podium before letting him fight for a point finish.
“It was very difficult and it became much worse than I thought it would go,” Hamilton said Sky Sports F1. “The car was really, really hard to drive today.
“For me, I’m just grateful to keep it out of the wall. Because there he wanted to go most of the time.
Use the Chrome browser for a more affordable video playback program
The best of the action from the first match of the Formula 1 season of 2025 at the Grand Prix, Australia.
“Much to get out of it and simply acclimatized with the new power unit in wet conditions.
“The settings it requires are different and a different way of driving and different arrangement on the steering wheel.”
Hamilton had struggled to make progress from the eighth position as he remained stuck behind Williams of Alex Albon in a race that started in the liquid with the field in the intermediate tires, before another delayed lower position created a dramatic finale.
With those still in the race that have switched to slick tires 10 rounds earlier, Downpour Saw Leader – and the final winner of the race – Lando Norris almost gets off the track and immediately come to the cavities for another set. Oscar Piasstri’s teammate returned from the second.
Use the Chrome browser for a more affordable video playback program
Lewis Hamilton embraces his introduction to Ferrari as he leaves Brackley for Maranello.
Most of the first runners fell, but Hamilton, who had just passed through Charles Leclerc’s teammate after Monegasque Spun, was left behind Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda, with Leclerc continuing behind him.
With Hamilton doing a good job in navigating the treacherous conditions, the decision to stay out seemed to have improved his prospects.
However, with the rain getting heavier, Ferrari failed to follow in the footsteps of Red Bull, who put Verstappen two rounds after Norris, who maintained his position behind the leader.
Liam Lawson crushed Red Bull to activate a safety car, but even slowed down, Ferrari recognized their mistake and put both Hamilton and Leclerc from the lead to prevent what would be an inevitable incident.
Use the Chrome browser for a more affordable video playback program
Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz reflects all the great speech points from the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton went through Leclerc and Piasstri’s recovery in the closing stages, each side of the response of a place with the overtaking of Pierre Gasly, which meant that it ended the 10th.
“I’ve hung as much as I could, I got into the lead at one point,” Hamilton said.
“Just the guidance of how much more rain comes, was missing there, so I think we lost.
“We tried, but the information I received was that it would be a short shower, really fast.
Hamilton sure about improving radio communication
The lack of clarity for the incoming weather was part of a wider Hamilton race suffered a contact with the new Riccardo Adami engineer.
Hamilton repeatedly asked Adam to “leave him in it” or said the words to a similar result, as the Italian tried to provide him with information he seemed to believe would help his attempt to pass Albon.
Use the Chrome browser for a more affordable video playback program
Listen to radio messages from Lewis Hamilton’s first race with Ferrari across the Grand Prix of Australia.
Despite his pure frustration from time to time, Hamilton praised Adam after the race.
He told reporters: “I think Riccardo did a great job. We learn about each other a little bit.
“After that we will download. We will go through all the comments – things I said and vice versa.
“In general, I’m not the one who likes a lot of information unless I ask. He did his best today and we’ll move on.”
Team leader Ferrari Fred Vasseur admitted that communications were not “clean”, but they insisted that the Italian team would learn from their first racing experience with Hamilton.
Vasseur said: “It’s the first race, the first time we have to communicate between the wall and the car.
“I thought we could do a better job and know each other a little more. It was certainly not clean at all, but the strategy was difficult.
“We have to find a better way of communicating between the car and the wall. But we will learn from Race One and it’s not a matter.”
The F1 Circus is heading directly to Shanghai this week for the first weekend sprinting of the season at Chinese GP, with coverage starting on Friday Live at Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with now – no contract, cancel at any time
