Hamilton reflects on ‘missed opportunity’ after challenging Ferrari debut in Melbourne
Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool
Lewis Hamilton's highly-anticipated debut for Ferrari ended in disappointment as the seven-time World Champion finished 10th in a tumultuous Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne's Albert Park. Despite the challenges, Hamilton managed to secure a single point in an incident-filled race.
The race began under wet conditions but shifted to dry, only to be thrown into chaos by a late-race shower. This sudden weather shift saw Hamilton and his teammate, Charles Leclerc, briefly rise to the top of the leaderboard as several drivers changed to intermediate tires while the Ferrari duo remained on slicks. However, as the rain intensified, both struggled to keep control, ultimately falling behind.
Crossing the finish line in 10th place, Hamilton reflected: “I’m grateful to finish, at least I got one point. Overall, not what I was hoping for, but there was so much to get accustomed to, with all the switch settings and changes that they [the team] were throwing at you [over the radio]. It was really very, very tricky today. I think we can improve that in the next race and get the car in a sweeter spot. There’s a lot more potential in this car than what we were able to extract today.”
When asked about leading the race momentarily, Hamilton added: “The rain intensified a little bit in the last sector, but the rest of the track was OK. Obviously, I didn’t know where everybody else was… Then it started raining [more], and no one told me that it was raining more elsewhere. A bit of an opportunity missed, but I’m glad I kept it on track.”
Leclerc also faced difficulties in the race, finishing eighth after a mistake during the late downpour made it hard to recover. Reflecting on the race, he said: “For a big part of the race, we thought P5 was secured. Then, obviously, the rain arrived and everything changed. The first one to blame is myself, after the mistake I made exiting Turn 11. We lost three or four positions, which was then very difficult to recover. It’s only the first race of the season… Yes, it’s not the first race we would have hoped for, but looking forward, we need to re-motivate ourselves for Shanghai and recover from what was a disappointing first weekend.”
As the Ferrari team looks ahead to the next race in Shanghai, both drivers are aiming to optimize their performance and utilize the car’s full potential, hoping for a more successful outing.
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