“Worse than I thought it would go”: Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari debut disrupted by miscommunication and wet conditions

F1 champion Lewis Hamilton had a difficult Ferrari debut at the Australian Grand Prix after finishing in a disappointing 10th position. Dealing with unpredictable weather, a new car, and at times an uncanny lack of communication with his race engineer Riccardo Adami, Hamilton admitted that his first race in red was more challenging than he had envisioned. Having spent 12 years getting along perfectly well with Pete Bonnington at Mercedes, coping with a different voice in his ear was an added problem.

Hamilton briefly dominated the race when Ferrari decided to keep him on dry tyres in the face of a sudden shower. The plan, however, failed as heavier rain poured in, and he had to pit for intermediates too late. This error, coupled with continuous tweaks to his new Ferrari, left him agitated with his overall performance. In an interview with Sky Sports, he talked about how his car handled differently in the rain and struggled to adjust to its power unit and steering functions.
“I felt like I was in the deep end today—just everything is new. From the first time I was driving this car in the rain, the car was behaving a lot different to what I've experienced in the past,” said Hamilton, “the power unit, all the steering functions—all the things are thrown to you and you're trying to juggle them.”
Moreover, Ferrari had informed Hamilton that the rain would be short-lived and that he should remain on slick tyres. When the conditions deteriorated, though, the delayed change to the intermediate tyres lost him crucial positions.
"Unfortunately, at the end, they said it was just a short shower and the rest of the track was dry, so I was like, ‘I'm going to stick it out as long as I can. I can keep it on the track. They didn't say more was coming, so then all of a sudden more came, so I think it was just lacking that bit of information at the end.” he added.


Throughout the race, there was some irritation in Hamilton's radio conversations with Adami as they went about their first racing experience together. During the initial laps, he was adamant about taking charge of his strategy, defying advice from his race engineer. When told to employ ‘K1’ overtake mode on Lap 14, Hamilton's blunt reply, “Leave me to it, please,” established the tone for his autonomous style. As he continued to learn the car, he rejected more hints regarding the use of DRS on Lap 28, commenting, “Please leave it; I'm learning the car as I go.” This confrontation highlighted his desire to control his racecraft.
Despite such early issues, Hamilton found himself at the head of the field by Lap 47 when rain began to descend. His account of deteriorating conditions—“Yes, it's very slippy rain. There's more rain coming down”—highlighted the difficult conditions faced by drivers. Yet only two laps later, frustration set in as the team misread the weather forecast. “Thought you said it wasn't going to rain? Think we missed a big opportunity there,” he complained, realizing that a different strategy might have produced a better outcome. In the end, he crossed in ninth position, a long way from the possible win he briefly saw.
Despite the dramatic moments, Hamilton accepted that the relationship with Adami was a work in progress. “I think Riccardo did a really good job—I think we're learning about each other bit by bit,” he said. “After this, we'll download; we'll go through all the comments, things I said, and vice versa.”

Although Hamilton's Ferrari debut was less than perfect, he is hopeful that they can work out the kinks and get their act together for future races. He stressed that the car is more capable than what they were able to muster in Melbourne and has potential in terms of setup and communication.
Also read: F1 qualifying: All about seven times champion Lewis Hamilton
As the Formula 1 season unfolds, everyone will watch Hamilton and Ferrari to understand how they work on improving their partnership and developing towards better results.