Lewis Hamilton’s highly anticipated move to Ferrari hasn’t come quite as naturally as the seven-time Champion might have hoped.

Hamilton will start the Australian Grand Prix from eighth place, with his teammate Charles Leclerc just one slot in front of him. But it’s safe to say the new recruit expected more.

Lewis Hamilton’s unaired radio message in Aus GP qualifying

On its face, a fourth-row starting position for the two Ferrari drivers in their SF-25s isn’t the end of the world — but expectations are high.

Seven-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton has joined the Scuderia, with the Australian Grand Prix representing the first opportunity for the Briton to test his new machinery in anger.

As expected, Hamilton made it into the final round of qualifying and was just a fraction of a second behind Charles Leclerc, who has just kicked off his sixth consecutive year with the team. That the two were fairly evenly matched bodes well for the race.

But lining up in the row ahead of the Ferrari duo are two unexpected names: Yuki Tsunoda of Racing Bulls, and Alex Albon of Williams.

Certainly the Prancing Horse will be disappointed to find itself taking the start behind two midfield teams, and that disappointment was echoed by the champion behind the wheel.

More Australian GP qualifying analysis:

👉 Why the ‘Max Verstappen effect’ was not enough to beat McLaren in Aus GP qualifying

👉 Winners and losers from the 2025 Australian Grand Prix qualifying

“I don’t know what happened there, mate,” Hamilton said on the radio after qualifying — a message that didn’t make the official broadcast.

“Tough one,” Hamilton’s new engineer Riccardo Adami said. “Overall good job out there.”

Speaking to media after qualifying, Hamilton admitted that he’s been finding this Ferrari swap a bit more challenging than anticipated.

“For me, we’re just improving every single lap, session on session – it’s a big learning curve this weekend, the car was so much different from the moment I left the pitlane, just feeling so much different than I’ve ever experienced here,” he said.

“It’s been a lot slower process for me to really feel the confidence in the car. Like, if you look at the high speed everywhere, I’ve been down all weekend to Charles, and just had it from the get-go.

“The minute he went out, he knew what the car does to me, and I was like just building up to that through the weekend.

“I think I got a little closer towards it – to be that close to Charles, in my first qualifying session in the car…”

He even added, “I honestly thought I was further along than I was and then I got here for P1, and I was like, ‘I still got a way to go.’

“There’s still a tonne of tools that I’m still not there on. Like ‘What about this, what does this do? I’ve never tried that.’”

While much has been made about Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, a learning curve is certainly a guarantee — particularly for someone like Hamilton, who had spent over a decade with one team.

Ferrari’s longevity in Formula 1 is just as notable as the fact that the team enjoys its own unique processes, procedures, equipment, and technologies when compared to other teams. That Hamilton is still finding his footing is natural.

Read next: Lewis Hamilton telemetry data shows where Leclerc has early edge