Lewis Hamilton admitted he found his Ferrari “really, really hard to drive” in wet conditions as he endured a challenging debut with the Italian team at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The seven-time world champion, who left Mercedes in a stunning move, has been adjusting to his new car since joining Ferrari in January.
However, his first race proved a steep learning curve, culminating in a disappointing 10th-place finish—well behind the pace of McLaren, Red Bull, and his former team, Mercedes.
“It was very tricky and went a lot worse than I thought it would go. The car was hard to drive today,” Hamilton said after the rain-affected race, which was disrupted by multiple crashes. “For me, I’m just grateful I kept it out of the wall because that’s where it wanted to go most of the time.”
This was Hamilton’s first time driving the Ferrari in wet conditions, adding another layer of difficulty. At one stage, he briefly led the race during a pit-stop shuffle under the safety car, but a delayed switch back to intermediate rain tyres cost him track position.
During the race, he was heard on the team radio telling his engineer that Ferrari had “missed a big opportunity” strategically. Despite the disappointment, Hamilton saw positives in the experience.
“Just getting acclimatised with the new power unit in the wet conditions,” he said.
“The settings it requires are different, and a different way of driving and a different set-up on the steering wheel.
“I hung out as long as I could; I got in the lead at one point. Just the guidance with how much more rain was coming was missing there, so I think we missed out.”
Hamilton will now turn his focus to adapting further ahead of the next race, hoping to unlock more performance from his Ferrari as the season progresses.
