It was not a perfect start to life at Ferrari for Lewis Hamilton after the Briton only just finished inside the points following a difficult Australian Grand Prix.
There was a lot of anticipation heading into the Australian GP weekend, not least because F1 was returning from a lengthy winter break, but there was also a sense of anticipation over how Hamilton would fare at Ferrari.
Things got off to a rocky start with a disappointing qualifying, then during the race, Hamilton would encounter communication issues with his engineer, Riccardo Adami, and struggle to make the Intermediate tyres work in the rain.
Charles Leclerc was marginally better in the treacherous conditions, finishing P8 while Hamilton dropped back to P10 following a last-lap overtake by Oscar Piastri. Despite the difficult result, Hamilton was still seen embracing the festivities according to Tom Clarkson when speaking on the F1 Nation podcast.
Lewis Hamilton seen doing the Melbourne Walk twice
The seven-time world champion seemed motivated at Ferrari, with Marc Priestley noting Hamilton’s team radio messages were polite towards Adami, despite the team putting themselves in compromising positions strategically.
During the build up to the race, Hamilton was also seen doing the ‘Melbourne Walk’ for the first time on the way into the circuit.
Steve Mackinnon: “Our expectations were through the roof, it seemed like the cloud has been lifted from his tough time at Mercedes the way he was walking down the Melbourne walk.”
Clarkson: “Unheard of!”
Mackinnon: “He did it twice! And was signing autographs…”
Clarkson: “He was charming with the fans, he was talking to them, and in every press conference he’s been in he’s been very giving, generous, and funny.”
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Lewis Hamilton told to rectify communication with Ferrari engineers before Chinese GP
It is the first time Hamilton has been with a race engineer in 12 years, having partnered Peter Bonnington at Mercedes throughout his period at the Silver Arrows.
Hamilton went through early communication problems with Bonnington when he joined the team in 2013, which are not too dissimilar from what he experienced with Adami in the Australian GP.
Peter Windsor felt Hamilton had enough time to rectify any potential communication problems over the winter break, after he racked up a lot of testing milage with the team.
Hamilton also focused specifically on Ferrari’s trackside operations during testing, in a bid to streamline the process in the opening races, but there is clearly still some things he needs to get on top of to be fully comfortable out on track.
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