Lewis Hamilton made his Formula 1 debut for Ferrari at the Australian Grand Prix, but it was a rather disappointing result for the Briton.
Ferrari’s race would unravel when a late Safety Car for Fernando Alonso crashing would force Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to pit and drop outside of the top five positions.
Leclerc also spun when racing Yuki Tsunoda, which put him behind Hamilton initially before he made an overtake on him at the restart for ninth.
Martin Brundle thinks Hamilton will not like watching back Oscar Piastri’s last-lap move, which demoted him to P10, while Leclerc would go on to beat him in their first match-up as teammates by finishing in eighth.
Peter Windsor branded Hamilton’s race ’embarrassing’ to watch because of one other defeat in the top five positions when speaking on his YouTube channel.
Peter Windsor thinks Lewis Hamilton’s race was ’embarrassing’ after Alex Albon defeat
After starting from eighth place on the grid, Hamilton was stuck behind Alex Albon’s Williams for much of the rain-affected race and unable to pass.
Hamilton was told by his engineer Riccardo Adami to use the ‘K1’ button on his steering wheel which gives him extra power from the MGU-K, but in the tricky wet conditions, he struggled to make any move stick.
Windsor branded it ’embarrassing’ that Hamilton failed to make it past the Williams driver, who was taking part in his 105th F1 race, considering Ferrari had the second-fastest car last season.
“For a Ferrari driver to be outraced by Alex Albon in the Williams is embarrassing to be honest,” said Windsor.
“I was a bit surprised that Lewis was taking a rather dogmatic approach on the radio because I’m sure on the pit wall they were thinking ‘What’s going on here, why can’t he get past him?’”
Nico Hulkenberg the highest-placed driver using a Ferrari power unit in Australian GP
One of the biggest winners in the Australian Grand Prix was Nico Hulkenberg, who gained 10 positions from where he started on the grid after the late safety car and six retirements.
Hulkenberg finished in seventh place and surpassed Sauber’s entire points haul in 2024 by two extra points by scoring six.
READ MORE: Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg’s life outside F1 from wife to height
It was the fifth time in his career that Hulkenberg finished in seventh place at Albert Park, and he was also the highest-placed driver using a Ferrari power unit in the race.
It marked the tricky conditions drivers found themselves in during the race, which required a mix of strategy and communication to ensure they were on the right tyres at the right time.
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