Hamilton admits Ferrari debut felt like ‘deep, deep end’ after chaotic Australian GP

MELBOURNE -- Lewis Hamilton expressed his gratitude at completing the Australian Grand Prix, his first race with Ferrari, describing the experience as being thrown into the "deep, deep end."

Hamilton finished 10th at Albert Park, two places behind teammate Charles Leclerc. A late decision by Ferrari to change tires in the unpredictable conditions did not yield the desired results.

"Definitely a big crash course today," Hamilton told reporters. "I'm just grateful I kept it out of the wall."

Hamilton elaborated on the challenges he faced, saying, "It felt like I was in the deep, deep end today. Just everything is new—the first time I'm driving this car in the rain, the car behaved a lot differently. The power unit, all the steering functions, everything you juggle, it's all new."

The race was marked by changing weather conditions and three Safety Car periods. In the final stages, both Hamilton and Leclerc chose to stay on dry tires as rain began again, eventually switching to intermediate wet tires as conditions worsened.

A frustrated Hamilton radioed in, "We missed a big opportunity there." He explained, "They said it was just a short shower, so I decided to hold out. Then, more rain came without much warning."

Sunday's race was also Hamilton's first with new race engineer Riccardo Adami, following a successful stint with Peter Bonnington at Mercedes. Hamilton commented on their communication: "Riccardo did a really good job. We're learning about each other, and we'll improve over time."

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur acknowledged the need for better communication between the pitwall and Hamilton. "We can do a better job and know each other more. The strategy was difficult, and we need to find a better way to communicate, but we will learn from this first race."

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