Lewis Hamilton Admits Ferrari Debut Was Tougher Than Expected

Lewis Hamilton Admits Ferrari Debut Was Tougher Than Expected After P10 Finish in Australia

Lewis Hamilton conceded that his first race with Ferrari “went a lot worse” than he had anticipated after finishing 10th in the Australian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion, who joined Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes, faced a challenging weekend in Melbourne, qualifying eighth and securing only a single point in a chaotic race on Sunday.

Despite glimpses of promise, Hamilton was left frustrated as a strategic miscalculation cost him a stronger result. Ferrari gambled by keeping him out on slick tires when rain hit the track—a move that initially put him in contention for a podium but ultimately forced him into a battle just to stay in the points.

“It was very tricky and went a lot worse than I thought it would,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. “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.”

Hamilton also noted the difficulty of adapting to Ferrari’s new power unit in wet conditions. “A lot to take from it—just getting acclimatized with the new power unit in the wet,” he explained. “The settings it requires are different, the way of driving is different, and even the steering wheel setup is different.”

Ferrari’s Strategy Gamble Backfires

Hamilton’s race started in wet conditions with the entire grid on intermediate tires. However, as the track dried and teams switched to slicks, another downpour late in the race created a dramatic shake-up.

Initially struggling to make progress from eighth, Hamilton was stuck behind Alex Albon’s Williams. But as rain returned, Ferrari’s bold call to keep him out—while many front-runners pitted—briefly put him behind only Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda, with teammate Charles Leclerc just behind.

At first, the strategy seemed to work. Hamilton did well to stay on track in worsening conditions, and for a moment, a strong finish looked possible. However, as the rain intensified, Ferrari’s reluctance to pit him—unlike Red Bull, who brought in Verstappen two laps after race leader Lando Norris—proved costly.

A crash from Liam Lawson triggered a Safety Car, but by then, it was clear that Ferrari had miscalculated. They belatedly pitted both Hamilton and Leclerc, losing crucial positions. Hamilton was then overtaken by both Leclerc and Oscar Piastri in the closing laps, only salvaging 10th place after passing Pierre Gasly.

“I hung out as long as I could, got into the lead at one point,” Hamilton reflected. “But we missed the guidance on how much more rain was coming. I was told it would be a quick shower, so I thought I could manage it, but then more came.”

Communication Issues Between Hamilton and Ferrari

A major takeaway from the race was Hamilton’s struggle to communicate effectively with his new race engineer, Riccardo Adami. Throughout the race, Hamilton was heard requesting less radio input, at times telling Adami to “leave him to it.”

Despite the apparent frustration, Hamilton later praised Adami. “Riccardo did a really good job. We’re learning about each other bit by bit,” he said. “After this, we’ll go through everything—what I said, what he said. Generally, I don’t like too much information during the race unless I ask for it, but he did his best today, and we’ll move forward.”

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur acknowledged that communication between the pit wall and Hamilton needed improvement. “It’s the first time we’ve had to communicate in a race situation,” Vasseur admitted. “It wasn’t a clean race at all, and we need to find a better way to communicate. But we’ll learn from this, and it’s not a big issue.”

Building the Bond Between Hamilton and Adami

Former F1 driver and commentator Karun Chandhok emphasized that Hamilton and Adami simply need more time to establish their working relationship.

“One of the things we heard from the radio messages is that they need to figure out exactly how much communication Lewis wants,” Chandhok noted. “Sometimes Lewis was asking for more information, then at other times telling them to stop talking. They just need to find a rhythm.”

Chandhok pointed out that Adami had spent years working with Carlos Sainz, who may have preferred more detailed updates than Hamilton does. “Riccardo is communicating in the way he’s used to, but Lewis is a different driver with different needs,” he said. “I’m sure if we listened to Lewis’s early radio exchanges with Mercedes in 2013, they weren’t as smooth as they became later.”

With the Chinese Grand Prix coming up next—the first Sprint weekend of the season—Hamilton and Ferrari will be looking to iron out their communication issues and find a stronger rhythm on track.