Vasseur: We gained valuable insights from this weekend.

      Hamilton's remark is a 'worrying sign' for Ferrari

      By GMM

      17 March 2025 - 10:58

      The pre-season excitement surrounding Lewis Hamilton's remarkable transfer and championship ambitions faded in Melbourne, with the Ferrari cars finishing in P8 and P10. However, McLaren, the current leaders in both the drivers' and constructors' championships, are not celebrating prematurely. "We haven’t really seen what Ferrari is capable of yet," cautioned team principal Andrea Stella.

      It was indeed a challenging weekend for the Maranello team, with team leader Frederic Vasseur asserting that various "errors" concealed the true potential of the 2025 car. Meanwhile, Hamilton mentioned the need to adjust his driving style. "I see this as a very alarming sign," remarked former F1 driver Christian Danner on RTL. "Because historically, no one has successfully adapted their driving style. It could be a difficult season for Lewis."

      Early indications of issues and tension between Hamilton and his new race engineer, following many years with Peter 'Bono' Bonnington at Mercedes, were also apparent. "We learned a lot from this weekend and recognized our mistakes," Vasseur admitted. "We must enhance communication and understand Lewis's needs better."

      40-year-old Hamilton, however, identifies a greater issue. "McLaren and Red Bull are exceptionally fast," the British driver stated. "We have a substantial amount of work to do. In China, I’ll attempt a different approach to the setup." Charles Leclerc, who finished P8, two positions ahead of Hamilton, commented: "If you observed the pace of the McLaren today, it was astonishing. They were even much faster than when they secured pole."

      Former F1 driver Timo Glock stated on Sky Deutschland: "Among the top teams, Ferrari was the clear disappointment in Australia." Nevertheless, even Mercedes is contemplating an early strategic shift of resources from the 2025 car to the completely new project for 2026, effectively conceding to the notion of not winning this year’s championship. "I would like to be closer to Red Bull and McLaren, but this is the reality," remarked team principal Toto Wolff. "Now we need a few more races to determine if we can catch up and whether it's worth investing our resources into this car. But it's just the first weekend, so we’ll see."