Lewis Hamilton will make his longly-anticipated debut for Ferrari at the Australian Grand Prix. He will be hopeful his 2025 campaign will be a drastic improvement on his final year with Mercedes.
The seven-time world champion suffered his worst season in F1 in 2024. Despite winning two races at Silverstone and Spa, they were Hamilton’s first since 2021 as he finished seventh in the drivers’ championship.
Mercedes struggled to provide the 40-year-old with a consistent car in the ground effect era. Hamilton has now switched silver for red as he embarks on his next adventure with Ferrari.
The Brit has replaced Carlos Sainz at the Maranello outfit as the Spaniard moves down the paddock to Williams. Despite swapping the second-best team for the second-worst team in the constructors’ championship last year, there is optimism that the Grove-based outfit can improve.
Ferrari will be optimistic about their chances in 2025. They will be gunning for the title after losing to McLaren by 14 points in 2024.
With Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, the Maranello outfit have arguably the strongest driver pairing on the grid. They will want a strong start in 2025 at the Australian Grand Prix.
‘Experts in the paddock’ think Ferrari are quickest on a qualifying lap at the Australian Grand Prix
No driver has won their first race for a new team since Max Verstappen took victory at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix for Red Bull. Hamilton has the best chance to achieve that feat for Ferrari in Melbourne.
The Maranello squad will face strong competition from the other top four teams. McLaren are the favourites after pre-season testing but Lando Norris is playing down the advantage the team is said to have.
Norris says Ferrari will surprise everyone with their pace at the Australian Grand Prix. That prediction seems to have come to fruition after Friday’s practice.
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Leclerc topped the timesheets in FP2 with Hamilton sixth tenths behind in fifth. After the session, journalist Tobias Gruner shared that ‘quite a few experts’ thought highly of the SF-25.
While they think McLaren are ahead in the long runs, many in the paddock see Ferrari ahead over a qualifying lap.
Gruner wrote via Auto Motor und Sport: “There are quite a few experts in the paddock who see Ferrari ahead on a qualifying lap and favour McLaren in the long run. If it rains on Sunday, that would, of course, turn everything upside down.”
Lewis Hamilton complained ‘all day’ about one Ferrari problem at the Australian Grand Prix
The feeling around the paddock will give the seven-time champion confidence heading into his Ferrari debut. Hamilton is reminded of his F1 debut by his first race for Ferrari – he will want to replicate the podium he scored that day with McLaren in 2007.
But practice did not appear to be the smoothest outing for the Brit in Melbourne. Hamilton complained about understeer ‘all day’ on Friday as he appeared ‘increasingly unsettled’ in the cockpit.
The Brit will hope the issue does not persist as he is desperate to make his stint in Maranello a success. But Carlos Sainz Sr warned Hamilton may not show his best form at Ferrari until the end of the season as his son found out when he joined from McLaren.
Hamilton has been preparing extensively behind the scenes, putting it long hours at the factory with his engineers to integrate himself into the team. It will take time for the 40-year-old to find his feet at Ferrari but a top result is definitely possible.
