Nothing beats the stark contrast between the thrill of intense competition and the quietude of a fresh morning after a chaotic frenzy to erase two months of sheer joy. Lewis Hamilton arrived in Melbourne visibly joyous prior to the start of the first chapter of his Ferrari story. Three days on, F1 '’s joint-most successful driver will now have no doubts about the magnitude of the journey ahead.
And it wasn't only about Ferrari’s late fumble – for both drivers, we should include, with Charles Leclerc Furthermore, this issue will gnaw at Hamilton during his journey to Shanghai this week ahead of the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix. Additionally, he won’t forget the final-lap letdown to Oscar Piastri, leaving him with a 10th-place result and only a single point after the wet race in Albert Park on Sunday.
Indeed, the omens were troubling as early as the wet weather forecast for Sunday's Grand Prix was announced. Surprisingly, conditions that Hamilton typically thrives in became a source of worry for him, much to the astonishment of everyone in the pit lane.
“I don’t know which buttons I’m going to switch to tomorrow,” he admitted about driving the SF-25 car in the rain, after qualifying a disappointing eighth on the grid.
“I don’t know what settings we’re going to have to use with the car.”
It seemed an astonishing revelation, and it set the tone for Sunday’s chaotic season-opening race in which Hamilton’s patience wore thin, right from lights out to the chequered flag.
Gradual indications of Hamilton’s angst increasing were played out to the world, as ever, on team radio. After he was paired with new race engineer Riccardo “Ricky” Adami – a 51-year-old Italian stalwart of Ferrari who has previously worked with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz – an intense 58-lap grand prix placed their new partnership firmly in the spotlight. And, perhaps inevitably after 12 years with the same engineer, Peter “Bono” Bonnington, at Mercedes, there are issues to iron out.
It is no secret that Hamilton prefers brief, concise instructions in his ear while driving at 200mph around a narrow street circuit. Who can blame him for that? As such, Adami’s regular interventions on Sunday were not welcomed by the 40-year-old. At the start of his 19th season in F1, Hamilton is well attuned to what makes him tick. And this was not it.
While driving behind the safety car on lap four, when told to “stay in mode charge… charge button on”, Hamilton’s response was polite but firm.
“Yeah, no problem. Just don’t repeat everything, please.”
Nine laps later, Hamilton responded, “Leave me to it, please” twice when instructed to use an overtake button on the steering wheel, as he frustratingly failed to pass the Williams of Alex Albon. By lap 25, the Briton’s replies were sharper: “Yes, please leave it, please leave it.”
A lot of this is par for the course. Despite Hamilton’s championship-winning days at Mercedes, even then he had his fair share of frustrating run-ins with Bono, who was once an engineer alongside him. However, as dark clouds gathered over Melbourne during the last ten laps on Sunday, one thing Hamilton shouldn’t have to face is making strategic decisions without being aware of the weather radar. Unfortunately, Ferrari’s inaccurate predictions proved very costly.
As the rain poured down, much of the field became bumpy while Hamilton and Leclerc remained on slick tires. Once Max Verstappen switched his tires, Hamilton seized the lead and queried, "Is more rain expected?"
Adami responded with, "Nope... just this... we'll see." This didn’t exactly instil much faith, yet Hamilton carried on. It turned out to be the incorrect decision.
Once it became clear that new tires were essential rather than just an optional choice, Hamilton realized instantly that his risky strategy hadn’t worked out.
Oh shoot, we should've joined them," Hamilton remarked, struggling to maintain his position as the eventual race victor Norris, using intermediate tyres, zoomed past him into the lead. "Looks like more rain is heading our way; the entire circuit is drenched now.
By the time Hamilton finally switched his tires, a safety car was deployed because of two collisions, causing him to drop down to ninth place. The frustration he felt over losing this chance – potentially for a podium finish, perhaps even a win – was evident under the bright sky that appeared overhead.
“I thought you said it wasn’t going to rain much? We missed a big opportunity there. S***.”
It’s worth noting that Hamilton didn’t rub salt into the wound when addressing the press following the event. He commented, "Riccardo performed very well, I believe. We're still getting acquainted with one another, and once everything settles down, we'll review all the feedback and remarks made."
“I generally prefer minimal commentary during a race; if I require assistance, I will request it. However, he put in his best effort today, and we'll review it together.”
Sadly, when we reached the finish, they informed me it would be merely a 'brief downpour'. Since most of the track remained dry, I decided to continue pushing and stay on the dry line for as long as possible. However, they did not mention additional rain was heading our way. Then, even more precipitation arrived. Thus, I believe my main issue was missing that crucial piece of final information.
When defending Ferrari’s strategy team, one must consider they make rapid choices amidst numerous variables. However, both Red Bull, Mercedes, and McLaren executed their pit stops precisely, whereas Ferrari did not.
Ferrari’s floundering in the tactical department has long been used as a stick to beat the prancing horse. A series of errors in 2022 ultimately cost Mattia Binotto his job as team principal and current boss Fred Vasseur has worked hard to improve the clarity and accuracy of decisions from the pit wall to the cockpit.
But Melbourne showed they are far from perfect. Perhaps of more concern to Hamilton will be Ferrari’s lack of pace: forget runaway leaders McLaren, they were even short of Verstappen’s Red Bull and former team Mercedes this weekend. For all the fanfare of his £50m-a-year move , Hamilton will now know the extent of the challenge ahead if he wants to compete for a world championship.
“It went a lot worse than I thought it would go,” he summarised. “The car was really, really hard to drive today. I’m just grateful that I kept it out of the wall… because that’s where it wanted to go most of the time.”
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