Africa-Press – Mozambique. Lewis Hamilton has admitted he thought he was “further along” in his adjustment to driving for Ferrari after qualifying in eighth for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion joined the Italian team after 12 seasons with Mercedes and had repeatedly stated ahead of his first campaign with Ferrari that he would need time to adjust.
However, he admitted after Saturday’s display at Albert Park that his first race weekend sessions in the SF-25 have been even more difficult than anticipated.
Hamilton said: “I honestly thought I was further along than I was and then I got here for P1, and I was like, ‘I still got a way to go.’
“There’s still a ton of tools that I’m still not there on.”
Hamilton’s own challenge was made more difficult by the fact that Ferrari, having looked like McLaren’s main competitors on Friday, dropped off the pace on Saturday.
The reigning constructors’ champions claimed a front-row lockout as Lando Norris beat Oscar Piastri, while Hamilton shares the fourth row with his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who could only manage seventh.
Hamilton’s individual struggles were highlighted by the fact he had to use an extra set of soft tyres to get through Q1 and was then somewhat fortunate to advance from Q2 after spinning in the closing stages.
The 40-year-old referenced his former Mercedes race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington as he explained the struggles he had in adjusting the setup of his car.
He said: “When you have a problem in the car and you come in, normally when you’ve got the experience, you can say, ‘Hey, this is where I want to go with it.’
“But I don’t know which tools to use at the moment. I’m heavily reliant, for the first time, on my engineers.
“They’ve done a great job but in the past I would say, ‘Bono, this is what I want. That setting, this setting.’ And I can’t do that at the moment.”
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