Australian GP: Hamilton on steep learning curve at Ferrari after first day on track
MELBOURNE — Lewis Hamilton doubts pole position will be possible on his Ferrari debut in Australia this weekend as he continues on a steep learning curve in his new car.
The seven-time world champion was fifth fastest in Friday practice at Albert Park, 0.4 seconds off the pace of his new Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc who set the fastest time of the day.
Hamilton has been the centre of attention during the build up to Sunday’s season opener in Melbourne, but admits he is still not at a point where he can extract the maximum performance from the car.
Asked if pole position was possible, he said: “For me I think it’s a little bit early as I continue to just get to learn the car, but you know, never say never. I’ll still give it everything I’ve got tomorrow and just not put on too much pressure.
“I’m just going to try and enjoy it. I’ve got some pace to find, I know where I’m going to find it, it’s just about going out and doing it.”
Hamilton joined Ferrari following 12 seasons at Mercedes and says he is still getting up to speed with a new way of working at the Italian team.
“I’m really still getting used to all the setup changes so it’s like I don’t have them on call like I used to have obviously at Mercedes,” he said.
“Because I’d been at Mercedes for so long, I knew exactly all the setup changes so I’m still working through understanding what tools we can use and it’s interesting because you can see with Charles, he just knows because he’s been here for such a long time. I’m slowly piecing the bits of the puzzle together.”
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said there has been no expectation for Hamilton to be “at the limit” in his first runs.
Speaking between practice sessions, Vasseur said: “It’s not a matter of speed. The target is for him to know everybody at the team, discover the software, the process, the system.
“I think I’m really convinced that we have something very similar to Mercedes, but at the end of the day perhaps not with the same name or the same way to use them. It’s just a learning process.
“You can’t draw a conclusion after a first session. I have absolutely no doubt that [Hamilton] will be able to perform and to perform soon,” he said.
Leclerc, meanwhile, finished Friday practice 0.124 seconds faster than McLaren‘s Oscar Piastri in second place, said he also had more performance to unlock from the new car.
“I mean honestly we did a good preparation work because the feeling with the car was good today,” he said. “I mean there’s obviously things that we need to improve as always, and I’m not very happy with the balance yet, but we are in a much better place compared to testing and there’s still some performance to find.
“But that’s the same for everybody in the paddock, I mean these cars are pretty new for everyone and so you’ve got to push it to understand where exactly is the limit but it’s been a solid first day, now we’ve got to wait and see how it goes tomorrow when we push a bit more.”
Asked if pole position was the target on Saturday, Leclerc added: “I want to be cautious, let’s wait and see, but it’s right to say that after a day like this we are looking forward to tomorrow and we want to try and target pole position.”
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
Source: espn.com