Lewis Hamilton would have been hoping for a fairytale start to his Ferrari career but had to settle for a top-10 finish on Sunday.
The Australian Grand Prix hasn’t been Lewis Hamilton’s happiest hunting ground during his career.
That seems incredible to say when he’s been on pole position eight times and won twice in Melbourne, but his record elsewhere shows that he typically has a much better conversion rate from the front of the grid.
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Lando Norris |
25 |
| 2 |
Max Verstappen |
18 |
| 3 |
George Russell |
15 |
| 4 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
12 |
| 5 |
Alexander Albon |
10 |
| 6 |
Lance Stroll |
8 |
| 7 |
Nico Hulkenberg |
6 |
| 8 |
Charles Leclerc |
4 |
| 9 |
Oscar Piastri |
2 |
| 10 |
Lewis Hamilton |
1 |
However, he once again went backwards as Ferrari made a clear strategy error that cost him and his new teammate Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton was briefly leading the race when the final downpour caused chaos and saw Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto crash into the barriers.
That joy was short-lived when Ferrari discovered that neither of their drivers were capable of staying out on slick tyres and had to pit for intermediates later than all of their rivals.
Hamilton will want to improve his radio communication with new race engineer Riccardo Adami, with the pair disagreeing at times over the best approach during the Grand Prix.
Martin Brundle was speaking on Sky Sports F1 after the race and admitted he completely disagreed with Ferrari’s assessment of how the seven-time world champion’s first race weekend with the team played out.
Martin Brundle can’t believe Ferrari are ‘incredibly happy’ with Lewis Hamilton’s debut
Brundle was asked to assess Hamilton’s Ferrari debut after the race and said: “I don’t think Lewis had a particularly strong weekend.
“I mean, they’re saying they’re incredibly happy but, you know, he was eighth on the grid, nine-tenths off pole behind his teammate.
“Piastri overtook him on the last lap and various dramas, he didn’t have a particularly strong race pace.
“I don’t think Lewis can go away from this race anything other than a little bit disappointed and challenged to be honest and he’ll be hoping for much more in China next weekend.”
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Karun Chandhok shared his recap of the race on Instagram and agreed with Brundle’s sentiment.
He explained: “Ferrari will be hugely disappointed not to get the strategy right on that and they ended up dropping away from what could have been a potential podium that George Russell got.”
Lewis Hamilton faced a much tougher Australian Grand Prix challenge than expected
The previous few years have seen testing take place in Bahrain and then the season start at the same track, giving every driver a slightly easier approach to the upcoming campaign.
However, trading the uncharacteristically cold conditions in Bahrain for scorching heat in qualifying in Melbourne and then a soaking wet track during Sunday’s race didn’t do anybody any favours.
In some ways, Hamilton was in the same position as the rookies as he tried to get to grips with a new car in wet conditions for the first time, but his 18 previous seasons in Formula 1 gave him at least a slight advantage.
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Unfortunately, he couldn’t make use of it and although team principal Frederic Vasseur was unhappy with some of the radio messages Hamilton received during the race weekend, he won’t be afforded too much time to get used to his new surroundings.
Leclerc will believe he can open up an early points advantage over Hamilton in the coming races and force Ferrari’s hand into making him their number-one driver for the season.
The seven-time world champion has to find a way to stop that from happening otherwise he’ll be gambling on the unknowns of the 2026 season to try and end his wait for an eighth title.
