Hamilton’s Ferrari Debut Marred by Strategy Missteps

Ferrari Stands by Its Strategy and Downplays Hamilton’s Frustration with His Engineer

17/03/2025

A risky tire call and shaky team radio exchanges overshadowed Hamilton’s first race in red, exposing Ferrari’s need for better execution.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has downplayed the team’s strategic misstep after Lewis Hamilton’s challenging debut in red at the Australian Grand Prix.

Both Hamilton and his teammate, Charles Leclerc, struggled in the ever-changing conditions at Albert Park. The seven-time world champion even admitted on Saturday that he wasn’t familiar with the wet-weather settings of his Ferrari SF-25.

After the race, Hamilton said he was “grateful” just to have kept the car on track as Ferrari gambled on slick tires until the end—a bet that didn’t pay off.

“It was a tricky situation because sectors one and two were still dry, while sector three was wet. It was a bit of a gamble… We bet on staying out and waiting for the final phase of the race with slicks.”

“When Mercedes and McLaren pitted two laps earlier, we stopped at the wrong moment. The best option was to pit on the same lap as Max [Verstappen], but we got it wrong.”

Vasseur admitted Ferrari could have done better:

“We can’t be happy with the result because it doesn’t reflect our car’s potential. That means, as a team, we didn’t do our job properly. Charles had a strong start, and Lewis was fighting his way up the field. But as I said, when the rain returned, we took the risk to stay out—just like Max did. However, we mismanaged our next move by staying out one lap too long, and we paid the price.”

On the bright side, Vasseur pointed to Ferrari’s promising pace earlier in the weekend:

“We showed good speed on Friday, both in qualifying and race simulations—on par with Mercedes and Red Bull, just behind McLaren. The positive thing is that we’ll be back on track in a few days, giving us the chance to reassess our potential. The season is long, and we need to keep pushing.”

Communication Issues Between Hamilton and His Engineer?

Ferrari’s team boss also acknowledged that radio exchanges between Hamilton and his race engineer, Riccardo Adami, weren’t “smooth,” as tensions ran high at times during the race.

“It was the first race, the first time they had to communicate between the pit wall and the car. I think we can improve and understand each other better. It certainly wasn’t ideal, but the strategy was complex.”

“We need to find a better way for Lewis and the team to communicate, but we’ll learn from this first race. It’s not a major issue.”

One of Hamilton’s frustrations was Ferrari’s inaccurate assessment of the incoming rain, which he questioned over the team radio.

Vasseur defended the difficulty of making real-time weather calls:

“It’s tough… We don’t have a perfect reading of the rain; it’s more of a feeling—what we see on the screens and radar, corner by corner.”

“Everyone was caught off guard by the amount of rain at that moment, McLaren included. Staying out on slicks and surviving to the end sounds easy in hindsight, but it was a bad decision.”

Despite moments of frustration during the race, Hamilton had positive words for Adami afterward:

“Riccardo did a great job. We’re still getting to know each other. After this weekend, we’ll go through all the feedback—what I said and vice versa.”

“In general, I don’t like too much information during a race unless I ask for it. He did his best, and we’ll move forward together.”

Looking ahead, Hamilton acknowledged the challenge Ferrari faces against McLaren and Red Bull:

“We’ve seen that McLaren and Red Bull are incredibly fast. We have a lot of work to do—with Riccardo, with the whole team. In China, I’ll try a different approach with the car setup.”

With a long season ahead, Ferrari’s learning curve with Hamilton is just beginning.

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Race Center
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Chinese GP
21 Mar 2025 - 23 Mar 2025
Free Practice 1
21 MAR 03:30 - 04:30
Sprint Qual
21 MAR 07:30 - 08:14
Sprint Race
22 MAR 03:00 - 04:00
Qualifying
22 MAR 07:00 - 08:00
Race
23 MAR 07:00 - 09:00

2025 F1 Australian Grand Prix - Race Results

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
57
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
+0.895s
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
+8.481s
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
+12.773s
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
+15.135s
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
+17.413s
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
+18.423s
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
+19.826s
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
+20.448s
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
+22.473s
Pierre Gasly
11
PIERRE
GASLY
+26.502s
Yuki Tsunoda
12
YUKI
TSUNODA
+29.884s
Esteban Ocon
13
ESTEBAN
OCON
+33.161s
Oliver Bearman
14
OLIVER
BEARMAN
+40.351s
Liam Lawson
15
LIAM
LAWSON
47 DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto
16
GABRIEL
BORTOLETO
47 DNF
Fernando Alonso
17
FERNANDO
ALONSO
34 DNF
Carlos Sainz
18
CARLOS
SAINZ
0 DNF
Jack Doohan
19
JACK
DOOHAN
0 DNF
Isack Hadjar
20
ISACK
HADJAR
0 DNF
F1 CALENDAR 2025
Race
Date
Chinese Flag
Chinese
Shanghai International
23 Mar
Japanese Flag
Japanese
Suzuka Circuit
6 Apr
Bahrain Flag
Bahrain
Sakhir desert
13 Apr
Saudi Arabia Flag
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street
20 Apr
United States Flag
United States
Miami
04 May

2025 FORMULA 1 DRIVERS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
25 Points
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
18
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
15
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
12
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
10
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
8
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
6
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
4
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
2
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
1

2025 FORMULA 1 CONSTRUCTORS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

1
McLaren
27
2
Mercedes
25
3
Red Bull
18
4
Williams
12
5
Aston Martin
8
6
Sauber
6
7
Ferrari
5
8
Alpine F1
0
9
Haas F1
0
10
Racing Bulls
0
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