Hamilton ‘felt like I was in the deep end’ on Ferrari debut

Lewis Hamilton says he felt like he was far outside his comfort zone when driving for Ferrari after finishing 10th in the Australian Grand Prix.

Ferrari struggled in Q3 on Saturday and Hamilton started from eighth, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc. He was stuck in traffic for a long spell in wet conditions, and having climbed forward when drivers were trying to negotiate further rain while on slicks, he eventually dropped to the final points-paying position in the closing laps.

“Sometimes it’s OK (being out of my comfort zone), but today it definitely didn’t feel (OK), it felt like I was in the deep, deep end today,” Hamilton said. “Everything is new, from the first time I’m driving this car in the rain, the car was behaving a lot different to what I’ve experienced in the past. The power unit, all the steering functions, all the things that are thrown to you, you’re trying to juggle all these new things.

“Unfortunately, at the end they said it was just a short shower, so I was like, ‘I’m going to hold it out’ and the rest of the track was dry, so I was like, ‘I’m going to stick it out as long as I can and keep it on the track.’ They didn’t say more was coming. And all of a sudden, more came.

“So I think it was just lacking that bit of information at the end. But I didn’t have any confidence today in it, unfortunately. I’m going to make some changes next week to the car, to the setup.”

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Although Hamilton spent most of the race trying to find a way past Alex Albon, he climbed into the lead at one stage amid a rain shower, but eventually had to make a pit stop when the safety car was deployed and dropped away from the frontrunners.

“In that moment, I don’t know, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m third!’ I was leading for a second. I don’t know if we have anywhere near the pace as the McLarens had today but I do think in the actual car, there is a lot more performance, I just don’t think we unlocked it this week.”

One aspect of the race that received plenty of focus on the television broadcast was Hamilton’s interactions with his race engineer Riccardo Adami, but despite a few communication issues the seven-time world champion is pleased with their starting point.

“I think Riccardo did a really good job. We’re learning about each other, and bit by bit, after this, we’ll download and go through all the comments, things I said and vice-versa. Generally, I’m not one that likes a lot of information in the race, unless I need it, I’ll ask for it. He did his best today and we’ll move forwards for sure.”