Ferrari boss makes his feelings crystal clear about Lewis Hamilton's shaky start to the F1 Australian GP

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has backed his driver Lewis Hamilton after the 7x F1 world champion had a shaky start to the F1 Australian GP. Hamilton has moved to the Italian team from Mercedes in 2025 in a bid to pursue an 8th world title. In his very first race weekend, however, the driver has not looked entirely comfortable.

In both FP1 and FP2, Hamilton struggled to keep up with teammate Charles Leclerc, and what was quite interesting to see was that the driver was leaking lap time throughout the lap. As the first day of running came to an end, the driver's fastest lap on a soft tire run was around four-tenths slower than what his teammate had done.

Such a struggle early doors is expected, however, as Lewis Hamilton is still getting used to life at Ferrari. The 7x F1 world champion is trying to get used to the changes that come when you are switching teams, and with Charles Leclerc being a brilliant talent himself, such things become even more visible.

Fred Vasseur also backed his driver in front of the media during the Team Principal press conference, where he pointed out how even Carlos Sainz was only P8 or P9 in practice sessions before going on to win the race last year. Talking about the adaptation process, the Ferrari boss said (via Motorsport):

"Nothing compares to the race weekend, you know that. I mean, we have to go through and we have to do it, but I'm not worried at all about this. I have absolutely no doubt that he will be able to perform and to perform soon. And, last year, I think that Carlos was P8 or P9 in free practice and he won the race."

---

Lewis Hamilton reflects on his first day at Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton was more or less positive after his first run in Ferrari. The driver admitted that there is still a process of building things up little by little and getting faster bit by bit, which he has to follow. In terms of placement on the timesheet as well, Hamilton was in the top 5, but the glaring gap was what his teammate Charles Leclerc had over him. He said (via SkySports):

"It’s (been) a super exciting build-up to this week and it felt amazing to get out there and be in a Ferrari here. Honestly, the car felt so much different to what I’ve ever experienced coming to this track, so it took a little bit of bedding in through P1. P2 was definitely a littler better but just building. We’re slowly building and getting a little bit faster bit by bit."

Ferrari does appear to be working well around Albert Park. It would be interesting to see how the 7x champion reacts if his teammate is at the front of the grid fighting for the win while he's unable to make a meaningful impact.