Hamilton Adjusting to Ferrari as Leclerc Shines at Australian GP Practice

Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool

Lewis Hamilton faces a significant learning curve as he continues to acclimate to his new Ferrari ride following his first day on track ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion posted the fifth-fastest time during Friday's practice sessions at Albert Park, clocking in 0.4 seconds behind his teammate, Charles Leclerc, who set the fastest time of the day.

The media spotlight has been firmly on Hamilton leading up to Sunday's season opener, but the British driver acknowledges he is still not fully attuned to extracting maximum performance from his new car.

"For me, I think it's a little bit early as I continue to just get to learn the car, but you know, never say never,"Hamilton said when asked about his chances of securing pole position. "I'll still give it everything I've got tomorrow and just not put on too much pressure. I'm just going to try and enjoy it. I've got some pace to find, I know where I'm going to find it, it's just about going out and doing it."

After spending 12 seasons with Mercedes, Hamilton says he's still adjusting to the different approach at Ferrari.

"I'm really still getting used to all the setup changes so it's like I don't have them on call like I used to have obviously at Mercedes," he said. "Because I'd been at Mercedes for so long, I knew exactly all the setup changes so I'm still working through understanding what tools we can use and it's interesting because you can see with Charles, he just knows because he's been here for such a long time. I'm slowly piecing the bits of the puzzle together."

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur indicated that there was no expectation for Hamilton to be "at the limit" during his initial runs.

"It's not a matter of speed. The target is for him to know everybody at the team, discover the software, the process, the system," Vasseur said between practice sessions. "I think I'm really convinced that we have something very similar to Mercedes, but at the end of the day perhaps not with the same name or the same way to use them. It's just a learning process. You can't draw a conclusion after a first session. I have absolutely no doubt that [Hamilton] will be able to perform and to perform soon."

Leclerc, who finished the day 0.124 seconds ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri, echoed sentiments of untapped potential within the new car.

"I mean honestly we did a good preparation work because the feeling with the car was good today," Leclerc remarked. "I mean there's obviously things that we need to improve as always, and I'm not very happy with the balance yet, but we are in a much better place compared to testing and there's still some performance to find. But that's the same for everybody in the paddock, I mean these cars are pretty new for everyone and so you've got to push it to understand where exactly is the limit but it's been a solid first day, now we've got to wait and see how it goes tomorrow when we push a bit more."

On the prospect of clinching pole position on Saturday, Leclerc remained cautiously optimistic. "I want to be cautious, let's wait and see, but it's right to say that after a day like this we are looking forward to tomorrow and we want to try and target pole position."

As the weekend progresses, all eyes will be on how Hamilton and Leclerc adapt and perform, with Ferrari hoping to make a strong statement in the season opener.

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