Lewis Hamilton said over team radio that Ferrari “missed a big opportunity” on strategy, and said after the Australian Grand Prix his car was “really hard to drive.”

Hamilton turned his first laps in wet conditions in a Ferrari, saying after qualifying that he needed to learn the wet-weather settings on the steering wheel, eventually crossing the line P10 on Sunday.

Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari debut ‘went a lot worse than I thought it would go’

Hamilton and the rest of the grid endured tough conditions at Albert Park in a race where several drivers crashed out, Isack Hadjar doing so on the formation lap before Jack Doohan, Fernando Alonso and Gabriel Bortoleto all found trouble at different times.

Oscar Piastri was ruled out of win contention after a run into the grass in the final sector, but with a late-race rain flurry mixing up the order, Hamilton briefly found himself in the lead of the race as he stayed on track while others pitted for intermediate tyres.

With the rain heavier than he was informed, Hamilton told race engineer Riccardo Adami they had “missed a big opportunity” to capitalise strategically.

The seven-time World Champion reiterated that belief after the race, but was ultimately pleased to keep his car on track on a day of multiple retirements in tough conditions.

“It was very tricky, and went a lot worse than I thought that it would go – and the car was really, really hard to drive today,” Hamilton admitted to Sky F1 after the race.

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“For me, I’m just grateful that I kept it out of the wall, because that’s really where it wanted to go most of the time. But a lot to take from it, and also just getting acclimatised to the new power unit in the wet conditions, all of the settings that it requires, a different way of driving, a different setup on the steering wheel.

“Obviously I hung out as long as I could, got in the lead at one point, and I think just the guidance in terms of how much more rain was coming was just missing there. So I think we missed out.”

With Ferrari’s predictions ultimately not panning out over the weather forecast, Hamilton clarified that he was told the late-race shower would be shorter than it would pan out.

“We try to,” Hamilton replied when asked if he and Leclerc can offer their feedback on driving conditions in real time, “but, I mean, the information I got was that it’s just a short shower, real quick, and at the time it was only in the last corner.

“So for me, it was like, the rest of the track was dry. I can keep this on track if if that’s all that’s coming – and then more came.”

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