Lewis Hamilton described his debut race for Ferrari as “a big crash course” after finishing 10th in a chaotic Australian Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion briefly led the race but fell down the order due to a poorly timed strategy call when rain hit late in the race.
“It felt like I was in the deep, deep end,” Hamilton admitted.
The 40-year-old added that he “didn’t have any confidence in the car and was nearly in the wall most of the time.”
McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed victory in Melbourne, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell. The race at Albert Park was a dramatic season opener, featuring changing weather conditions, three safety cars, an aborted start, and multiple crashes.
Hamilton, who qualified eighth, reflected on his result: “I’m grateful I got through it and came away with at least one point. I didn’t go off or spin, but I was definitely lacking pace. I do believe the car has more performance than we were able to extract this weekend.”
He acknowledged that Ferrari delayed his switch to wet-weather tyres when rain arrived with 13 laps to go—pitting three laps later than Norris and one after Verstappen.
“In the last sector, everyone was going off, but I was managing to hold on and making passes. By the time we got to the start line, it was dry, so I thought, ‘I just have to hold on for a few more laps.’
“But then the rain really came down in the last two laps, and that’s when we should have pitted.
“At one point, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m third.’ I even led for a second. But I don’t know if we had anywhere near the pace of the McLarens today. I do think the car has more performance—we just didn’t unlock it this weekend.”
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur admitted the team made the “wrong decision” and promised to improve ahead of next weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.
“It was our first race communicating between the pit wall and Lewis, and we can do a better job,” Vasseur said. “It wasn’t a clean execution at all. We need to learn what Lewis expects from the communication and improve for next time.”
Ferrari endured a tough weekend overall. Charles Leclerc, who followed the same strategy as Hamilton, started just ahead of him and finished two places in front after passing the Briton on the final restart.
Vasseur suggested that Ferrari hadn’t fully optimised their car for Albert Park and insisted their true position was right behind McLaren, as seen earlier in qualifying.
“The conditions today don’t reflect our actual performance,” he said. “Friday and Q2 were more representative.
“As soon as you overheat the tyres, you lose a lot of performance. The real picture of our pace is what we saw on Friday and Saturday, but even then, McLaren had an edge.
“If you don’t adapt the car to the tyres, the track conditions, and temperatures, you fall out of the performance window. Next weekend will be a different challenge.”
