Lewis Hamilton admitted he “didn’t expect” his Ferrari to be nine tenths away from pole position in Australian Grand Prix qualifying.

Hamilton will line up eighth on his first start for the Scuderia, one place behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc as the duo locked out the fourth row of the grid at Albert Park on Saturday.

Lewis Hamilton had ‘really good time’ in first Ferrari qualifying

The McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locked out the front row as polesitter Norris went almost four tenths faster than Max Verstappen in third place, with George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon all out-qualifying the Ferrari duo on Saturday.

Hamilton explained the weekend has been a first in every way for him so far, adding he is still taking time to get used to his new machinery.

That said, though, the gap to the top was larger than perhaps expected ahead of the weekend.

“I had a really good time out there today,” Hamilton told Sky F1 after the session.

“Everything’s been a first this weekend. My first P1 with Ferrari, my first practice sessions and first qualifying – and it’s been a lot of work to really adapt to this car.

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“It’s so much different here to what I’ve experienced in the past, but it’s been interesting.

“I mean, I definitely didn’t expect us to be… I didn’t know that I would be nine tenths off or eight tenths off today, but there is a lot to dissect, for sure.”

While the seven-time World Champion had been several tenths away from Leclerc’s pace earlier in the weekend, he narrowed that gap to two-tenths of a second come qualifying and, when it was put to him that it was a reasonable gap to be behind – despite knowing the competitor in him will have wanted to be ahead – Hamilton admitted to be not far behind a well-established and highly-rated team-mate in his first race is not a bad showing.

There is set to be another hurdle to navigate come Sunday, however, with wet weather set to be a factor at Albert Park – though Hamilton has yet to use his Ferrari in wet conditions.

“I mean, Charles has been in this team for seven years,” Hamilton said of his deficit to Leclerc.

“He knows his car in and out – not necessarily the new one, but in terms of the general characteristics of our cars and all the tools and everything, so I’m still learning those.

“To be that close in my first qualifying session, I’ll definitely take it and just [next], get our heads down and start working, trying to find out why we’re not on pace with the front runners.

“Tomorrow is going to be a challenge, I’ve never driven in this car in the rain, so I don’t even know the rain setting, so I’ve got to go and study that tonight, and it’ll be a learning experience again tomorrow.”

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