Lewis Hamilton “lost a bit of enthusisam” over the course of a difficult debut for Ferrari at last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.

That is the claim of former Ferrari driver Rene Arnoux, who says the ex-Mercedes racer “can’t be satisfied” after a challenging weekend in Melbourne.

Lewis Hamilton ‘lost enthusiasm’ during Australian Grand Prix

Hamilton endured a difficult weekend in Australia, qualifying a distant eighth before slipping back to 10th in a rain-affected grand prix.

The seven-time World Champion found himself in the lead at one stage after staying out when the rain returned, but was among the last to pit for intermediate tyres by stopping on Lap 47.

PlanetF1.com’s resident data analyst, Pablo Hidalgo, revealed that Hamilton could have realistically fought for fourth place – the position ultimately claimed by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, his successor at Mercedes – if he had pitted at the optimum time.

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Hamilton was also heard having a number of awkward team radio exchanges with Riccardo Adami, his new race engineer who previously worked with his predecessors Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel, over the course of the race.

Ferrari’s poor start to the season comes after the team introduced a number of design changes, including a return to a pullrod front suspension layout for the first time since 2015, to the new SF-25 car.

Appearing on Italian station Rai Radio 1, Arnoux, who claimed three of his seven F1 wins for Ferrari, remarked that it seemed Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc were dealing with more rain than their rivals in Australia as they struggled to handle the SF-25.

He said: “In terms of competitiveness, we are still not there both in the dry and in the wet.

“They made a new suspension, but couldn’t find the right setup on this type of track: both Hamilton and Leclerc found themselves with a car that was very difficult to drive.

“It felt like there was more water for the two Ferraris than for everyone else: they couldn’t touch the throttle, they were getting sideways.

“I understand Hamilton’s disappointment, he can’t be satisfied after this first race.

“I don’t know who decided Leclerc’s strategy, he pitted a lap late and it cost him dearly.”

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Hamilton prepared for his Ferrari debut with a series of private tests with the team’s 2023 car in late January and early February before receiving a rare chance to drive a modified version of the 2024 car in a Pirelli tyre test.

Prior to the Australian GP, his only experience behind the wheel of the SF-25 came in a brief shakedown run at Ferrari’s Fiorano test track and last month’s three-day pre-season test in Bahrain, where he split running with Leclerc.

Arnoux feels the lack of testing available to drivers in the modern era makes it challenging for the likes of Hamilton, who spent 11 years with Mercedes, to get up to speed quickly after changing teams.

And he felt the 40-year-old appeared to lose “enthusiasm” as the 57 laps unfolded in Australia.

He said: “It is always difficult to change teams because there is no longer the possibility of private testing, apart from for two to three days three times a year.

“It means that Hamilton arrived in Melbourne without really knowing the car, plus he discovered it in very delicate conditions with the wet track.

“After [Sunday] he lost a bit of enthusiasm and I understand that.

“You have to wait four or five grands prix and see if the car is really competitive.”

Speaking on Sunday, Hamilton described the Australian GP as a “crash course” in his bid to get to grips with the Ferrari.

He said: “We’ve learned a huge amount this weekend. There’s lots to take away from it.

“I have some changes I will make for next week and see how it goes, but today was a crash course in driving a Ferrari in the rain.”

Asked what he would do differently if he could run the race again, he replied: “Many, many things setup-wise.

“Set the car up just a lot different and position the car different in different parts of the race. Different calls.”

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