Lewis Hamilton is still searching for the right feeling with the Ferrari SF-25: the Briton comments on the Australian GP qualifying. Only eighth on the grid, #44 will still start alongside his teammate, who was just two-tenths faster. A positive sign, even considering that Charles Leclerc aborted his final flying lap.
It was not the Saturday that Ferrari fans were expecting, that much is clear. After Friday in Melbourne, expectations were quite different. The SF-25 already seemed to struggle in FP3, where the balance found in the first two sessions began to falter. Qualifying then painted a nightmare scenario: the fourth-fastest team, even behind Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon.
Is this the true potential of the Prancing Horse? Probably not. The reasons behind this one-lap performance struggle will need to be analyzed after the weekend, awaiting a more complete race assessment. In the meantime, Lewis Hamilton is only partially satisfied: on one hand, he is continuing his adaptation to the SF-25; on the other, there are still areas that need fine-tuning.
Australian GP: Lewis Hamilton Comments on Qualifying and the Ferrari SF-25
In an interview gathered by Formula 1’s official portal, the seven-time world champion spoke about the car: “[Adapting to the car] doesn’t feel so natural, it’s been challenging. It’s hard to go into detail, even talking about the small setup changes that are made.”
“There are new tools that I’m still trying to understand, especially in terms of how they impact the car. But I feel good because, in the end, I got practically everything out of the car. I think there are still a couple of tenths left.”
Lewis Hamilton Satisfied with the Gap to Charles Leclerc in Australian GP Qualifying
The glass is, in short, half full: “I certainly didn’t expect us to be this far off, but to be so close to Charles at the end of my first qualifying session with this car… I’m still really learning. I worked all weekend to refine it, discovering new tools that we hadn’t had the chance to try during testing and had never used before. I think we did a good job.” – the seven-time Formula 1 world champion pointed out at the end of the qualifying session in Melbourne – “The first lap was quite good. The second lap wasn’t as good; it felt messy. Overall, we didn’t have the right pace. I tried to find more, but that led me to make some mistakes. The rear was quite unstable, and we struggled a bit, which is a shame.” – he added.
“Before coming here, we definitely expected to be at a disadvantage, but after Friday, we thought there might be a bit more pace in the car. In the end, that wasn’t the case.” – the Briton concluded.
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