Lewis Hamilton admitted his Ferrari debut “went a lot worse” than he had expected after the seven-time world champion finished 10th in the Australian Grand Prix.
Following his blockbuster switch to Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes, Hamilton endured a tough weekend in Melbourne as he qualified eighth before claiming the final point in Sunday’s chaotic race.
The 40-year-old Brit was left frustrated at a missed opportunity as Ferrari pushed a strategy gamble too far, with a decision to stay out on slick tyres in the rain first putting Hamilton in podium contention before leaving him fighting for a points finish.
“It was very tricky and went a lot worse than I thought it would go,” 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.
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The best of the action from the first race of the 2025 Formula One season at the Australian Grand Prix.
“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.”
Hamilton had struggled to make progress from eighth as he remained stuck behind the Williams of Alex Albon in a race that began in the wet with the field on intermediate tyres, before another late downpour created a dramatic finale.
With those still in the race having switched to slick tyres 10 laps earlier, the downpour saw leader – and eventual race winner – Lando Norris almost go off track and immediately come into the pits for another set of intermediates. His team-mate Oscar Piastri spun off from second.
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Lewis Hamilton embraces his introduction to Ferrari as he leaves Brackley for Maranello.
Most of the front-runners pitted but Hamilton, who had just gone past his team-mate Charles Leclerc after the Monegasque spun, stayed out behind Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda, with Leclerc also continuing behind him.
With Hamilton doing a good job of navigating the treacherous conditions, the decision to stay out appeared to have improved his prospects.
However, with the rain getting heavier, Ferrari failed to follow in the footsteps of Red Bull, who pitted Verstappen two laps after Norris, which maintained his position behind the leader.
Liam Lawson crashed his Red Bull to trigger a Safety Car, but even with the pace slowed, Ferrari acknowledged their error and pitted both Hamilton and Leclerc from the lead to prevent what would have been an inevitable incident from occurring.
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Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz reflects on all the big talking points from the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton was passed by Leclerc and the recovering Piastri in the closing stages, either side of gaining a place by overtaking Pierre Gasly, which meant he finished 10th.
“I hung out as long as I could, got in the lead at one point,” Hamilton said.
“Just the guidance with how much more rain was coming, was missing there, so I think we missed out.
“We tried to but the information I got was it would be a short shower, real quick. At the time, it was only at the last corner so to me I thought ‘the rest of the track was dry, I can keep this on track if that’s all that’s coming’, then more came.”
Hamilton confident of improving radio communication
The lack of clarity over the incoming weather was part of a wider struggle Hamilton endured communicating with his new race engineer Riccardo Adami.
Hamilton repeatedly asked Adami to “leave him to it”, or said words to similar effect, as the Italian attempted to provide him with information that he appeared to believe would help his quest to pass Albon.
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Listen in on the radio messages from Lewis Hamilton’s first race with Ferrari throughout the Australian Grand Prix.
Despite his clear frustration at times during the race, Hamilton praised Adami after the race.
He told reporters: “I think Riccardo did a really good job. We’re learning about each other bit by bit.
“After this we’ll download, we’ll go through all the comments – things I said and vice versa.
“Generally, I’m not one that likes a lot of information in-race, unless I ask for it. He did his best today and we’ll move forward.”
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur admitted that communications were not “clean” but insisted the Italian squad would learn from their first racing experience with Hamilton.
Vasseur said: “It’s the first race, the first time that we have to communicate between the pit wall and the car.
“I thought that we can do a better job and to know each other a bit more. For sure it was not a clean one at all, but the strategy was difficult.
“We need to find a better way to communicate between the car and the pit wall, but we will learn from race one and it’s not an issue.”
The F1 circus heads straight to Shanghai this week for the first Sprint weekend of the season at the Chinese GP, with coverage starting on Friday live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime
