Lewis Hamilton is bracing for a challenging Australian Grand Prix, as he isn’t yet fully confident behind the wheel of his Ferrari.

Hamilton finished qualifying in eighth place, one position behind Charles Leclerc, finishing up just under quarter of a second behind the Monegasque.

Lewis Hamilton: I’ve still got a ways to go

Hamilton is adjusting to life at Ferrari after switching from Mercedes over the winter – calling time on a career of over a decade with the Brackley-based squad, and almost 20 years of racing with Mercedes power.

Getting embedded within his new team, Hamilton is slowly but surely finding confidence in his new surroundings – but has admitted he isn’t quite there with the SF-25 just yet.

Having finished his first qualifying session in eighth, having rebounded from a spin in Q2, Hamilton said he’s still learning how best to drive his new car.

“For me, we’re just improving every single lap, session on session – it’s a big learning curve this weekend, the car was so much different from the moment I left the pitlane, just feeling so much different than I’ve ever experienced here,” he said.

“It’s been a lot slower process for me to really feel the confidence in the car. Like, if you look at the high speed everywhere, I’ve been down all weekend to Charles, and just had it from the get-go.

“The minute he went out, he knew what the car does to me, and I was like just building up to that through the weekend.

“I think I got a little closer towards it – to be that close to Charles, in my first qualifying session in the car…”

Asked to elaborate on where he’s feeling the differences relative to what he’s been accustomed to, Hamilton said, “Braking – through corner balance is a lot different to what I had. Mechanical balance shift that you have is much, much different from what I had in the previous car.

“The high speed balance to low-speed balance is quite a shift. So, yeah, she behaves a little bit differently.

“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 tonne of tools that I’m still not there on. Like ‘What about this, what does this do? I’ve never tried that’.

“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 [Mercedes’ engineer Pete Bonnington], this is what I want. That setting, this setting.’ And I can’t do that at the moment.”

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Lewis Hamilton bracing for difficult wet race

The seven-time F1 world champion is concerned that the expected wet conditions on Sunday could put him in an “uncomfortable position,” especially given his limited experience with his new Ferrari.

He described how it would be a “shock to the system” if the rain arrives, and expressed some concerns about the challenge, given his lack of full understanding of the car just yet.

“Frickin’, I’ve never driven the car in the wet!” Hamilton said.

“I don’t even know where the wet switch is. I don’t know which buttons I need to use tomorrow, so it’s all new to me.”

He also highlighted the differences in the braking system, as Ferrari uses Brembo.

“We’re using Brembos, which I haven’t used at all—probably not since I was much, much younger,” he said.

“I don’t think I’ve used them in a long time. So how will they perform in the wet? I don’t know if they’re glazed or what settings I’ll need to adjust with this car. It’s all very different.”

While wet weather is often seen as an equaliser in motorsport, Hamilton’s situation is anything but typical.

After qualifying in P8 at Albert Park, rain would usually be seen as an opportunity for a lower starting position but, given his unfamiliarity with the Ferrari, this time it presents a different challenge.

“When you qualify eighth, you hope for it to be wet. But for me, I have three laps to learn the car in the wet, and then I have to race,” he said.

“I’ve got a bad memory, so I don’t actually remember driving here in the wet. But wet conditions have always been something I’ve enjoyed. Growing up in England, it was always wet, so it’s been a comfort zone for me.

“But as I said, I’m heading into this wet race in an uncomfortable position because I’ve never driven this car in the wet. It’s going to be a shock to the system, but I’ll be learning on the fly and giving it everything I’ve got.”

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