Lewis Hamilton’s debut with Ferrari didn’t go to plan as the seven-time world champion failed to get to grips with his new car and team at the Australian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton has been slammed for his pace and radio messages following his underwhelming Ferrari debut in Melbourne. Following his seismic move from Toto Wolff’s Mercedes, the F1 legend endured a troubled first weekend in red at the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton qualified down in eighth and ended up finishing two places lower in treacherous race-day conditions Down Under. With team-mate Charles Leclerc finishing eighth, the Ferrari drivers were well off the pace of the McLarens and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.
Hamilton was passed late in the race by Leclerc and the recovering McLaren of Oscar Piastri, whose spin as rain struck ruined his chances of beating Lando Norris to victory. As he struggled to make progress, he repeatedly told new race engineer Riccardo Adami to “leave it to me” after being given guidance from the pitwall.
Hamilton’s display and awkward exchanges with Adami have been criticised by ex-Williams team manager Peter Windsor. The Australian said on his YouTube channel: “There were a lot of weird radio transmissions going on with Ferrari, almost becoming uncomfortable with Charles Leclerc giving his engineer a hard time.
“And they were giving Lewis a lot of instructions on how to get past Alex Albon, to do with the DRS and various switches. He kept saying, ‘I can handle it, I can handle it’.
“Well, Lewis, you didn’t handle it and you never got past Alex Albon. For a Ferrari driver – admittedly in his first grand prix [with the team] – to be outraced by Alex Albon in the Williams is a bit embarrassing, to be honest.
“I was a bit surprised that Lewis was taking a rather dogmatic approach on the radio because I’m sure on the pitwall they were thinking, ‘what’s going on here, why can’t he get past him?'”
Despite not being at the same level as McLaren or Verstappen, the Ferraris could have finished higher than eighth and 10th if they hadn’t stayed out too long on slick tyres during the late-race downpour.
Both Leclerc and Hamilton openly criticised the team’s decision-making. Leclerc said: “It was a tough race and there are things we have to review and work on.
“We weren’t the fastest out there but in such weather conditions, there was a chance of scoring some big points which we didn’t capitalise on today.
He added: “There are two things we have to look into. The first is easy, it was my mistake.
“The second is something we will sort out as a team, looking into our decisions and making sure we make the right call if the situation comes up again.”
Their performance at Albert Park, both on and off the track, has left Ferrari with much to consider before this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, which will feature the season’s first Sprint race.
