Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari debut ‘worse than I believed it might be’ as ‘automotive arduous to drive’
Lewis Hamilton scored a solitary point on his Ferrari debut at the Australian Grand Prix and the seven-time world champion was left lamenting the performance of his new car
Lewis Hamilton has slammed his Ferrari debut as ‘a lot worse’ than he anticipated, scraping just a single point after an eventful rain-affected Australian Grand Prix.
The former world champion had a tough time trying to overtake Alex Albon and could be heard expressing his frustration over the radio with new race engineer Riccardo Adami.
Despite a stroke of luck when Hamilton inherited the lead thanks to sticking with slick tyres in a drizzle, the move backfired following a safety car situation, prompting Ferrari to pit both their drivers.
Hamilton finished in 10th place at the finish line after being outmanoeuvred by Oscar Piastri’s stunning overtake on the final circuit bend, reports the Express.
Post-race, speaking with Sky Sports F1, Hamilton reflected: “It was very tricky and went a lot worse than I thought it would go. The car was really, really hard to drive today. For me, I’m just grateful I kept it out of the wall because that’s where it wanted to go most of the time.”
He added: “A lot to take from it and just getting acclimatised with the new power unit in the wet conditions. The settings it requires are different, and a different way of driving and a different set-up on the steering wheel.
“I hung out as long as I could, got in the lead at one point. Just the guidance with how much more rain was coming, was missing there, so I think we missed out.”
Hamilton had already seen the alleged frustrations of Ferrari chief Fred Vasseur during Australian Grand Prix qualifying.
He was reportedly annoyed after a radio message from Hamilton. The new Ferrari driver was instructed via team radio to remain on the track during Australian Grand Prix qualifying. The seven-time world champion narrowly escaped elimination in the initial qualifying round but eventually made it to Q3 and secured a P8 start for todays race.
Speaking yesterday (March 15), Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz said: “It wasn’t anywhere near perfect today. And Fred Vasseur, the team boss, [was] a bit annoyed about it.”
