Lewis Hamilton says he has spent the early part of Formula 1’s 2025 Australian Grand Prix adjusting his driving style to suit the requirements of the Ferrari car package he is currently exploring.
In the other SF-25, Charles Leclerc ended the opening day in Melbourne at the head of the times, but also with a big 0.42s gap to Hamilton in FP2, with the Briton having been adrift by 0.6s in FP1 (topped by McLaren’s Lando Norris).
Speaking to F1 TV post-FP2, Hamilton said his first day driving for Ferrari on an official F1 race weekend had “felt amazing to get out there and be in a Ferrari here” after a “super exciting build-up to this week”.
“Honestly, the car felt so much different to what I’ve ever experienced coming to this track,” he added. “So, it took a little bit of bedding in through FP1.
“FP2 is definitely a little better but just building. But we’re slowly building and getting a little bit faster bit by bit.”
When ask to clarify what he meant about differences in the SF-25 he was feeling from the Mercedes package he used until 2024’s end, Hamilton said: “Just different. Just a lot different.
“But the car doesn’t feel bad or anything. It just requires a different way of driving. So, [I’m] adjusting my driving style bit by bit, but enjoying driving.”
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Ferrari
Hamilton’s driving style has previously consisted of two important elements.
One was maintaining braking stability when hitting the pedal very late that meant holding a car on the edge of under-rotation on corner entry, while he also puts in plenty of energy through the front tyres via many tiny movements as a turn progresses – all of which combines to leave the car moving around considerably at the rear end.
Historically, Hamilton had been able to live with this rear movement and maintain high cornering speed as a result.
He had said at the end of Bahrain pre-season testing that there was “quite a bit to come” in terms of his adaptation process from Mercedes to Ferrari, which appears to be continuing.
Leclerc, meanwhile, utilizes a two-stage approach in his driving style than can be described as ‘little turn, big turn’ – especially in medium- and lower-speed corners – that helps to reduce understeer.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
This also helps with braking input during the final stages of corner approach, but his style at the wheel is overall much smoother than Hamilton’s.
“Honestly, we did good preparation work because the feeling with the car was good,” Leclerc said of his and Ferrari’s work in Melbourne on Friday.
“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 Bahrain testing. There’s still some performance to find, but that’s the same for everybody in the paddock.
“Those cars are pretty new for everyone. So you’ve got to push it to understand where exactly the limit is. 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.”
Photos from Australian GP – Free Practice
In this article
Alex Kalinauckas
Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari
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