Lewis Hamilton’s highly anticipated Ferrari debut didn’t go as planned. There was plenty of hype, with many tipping him as a favorite to win the season-opening Australian GP. However, he could only manage a tenth-place finish.
Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner recently analyzed Hamilton’s debut, stating that his “honeymoon” period was over and that he now needed to deliver.
Now, Steiner has shifted his criticism toward Ferrari, blaming them for focusing too much on the hype surrounding Hamilton’s arrival. Since the 40-year-old joined Maranello in January, Ferrari has flooded social media with content to excite fans.
They even arranged an iconic photoshoot of Hamilton alongside a Ferrari F40 in front of Enzo Ferrari’s house in Fiorano—an image that broke the internet, setting an F1 social media record with 5.7 million likes. While fans enjoyed the spectacle, Steiner believes Ferrari has failed to back up the excitement with results, and that’s what he doesn’t like.
“I think they dropped the ball on this weekend as you said,” Steiner said on The Red Flags podcast. “The hype about Lewis coming I think took over. Everything was just hyped up and then reality hits, we actually have to go racing and then everybody forgot“.
You don’t see drivers going around the outside of Lewis Hamilton very often!
An impressive final lap overtake from @OscarPiastri #F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/ExoIhXuonO
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 16, 2025
Steiner feels it wasn’t just the fans who underestimated the challenges Hamilton would face in adapting to a new team with a completely different culture from what he had grown accustomed to over the past decade. Even Ferrari and Hamilton took things too lightly.
He also pointed to another major issue plaguing Hamilton and Ferrari at Albert Park—the miscommunication between the seven-time champion and his new race engineer, Riccardo Adami.
Steiner comments on Hamilton’s tense exchange with Adami
As much as Hamilton needs to adapt to Ferrari’s operations and get up to speed with the car, he must also build a strong rapport with his team members—especially his race engineer, with whom he will communicate during races.
The heated exchanges between Hamilton and Adami in Melbourne suggest that the Briton needs to work harder to improve their relationship. When the Italian relayed what he felt was crucial information, Hamilton snapped back, asking him to leave him alone.
Reflecting on the same, Steiner pointed out that while Hamilton is undoubtedly one of the best, Adami is also a world-class race engineer. He previously worked with four-time champion Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz.
New team, new race engineer for Lewis #F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/Aquzh45ViX
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 16, 2025
“I know Riccardo Adami pretty well from the times at Toro Roso more than 20 years ago,” Steiner explained. “He is a very good race engineer, very experienced he doesn’t need to be afraid to race engineer Lewis Hamilton“.
Surprisingly, Hamilton also agreed post-race that Adami did “a really good job“. He acknowledged that he needs to work more closely with Adami to develop better mutual understanding.
Hamilton explained that he generally prefers minimal communication during a race, which likely contributed to his frustration when Adami repeatedly advised him to use the K1 setting for an extra boost while trying to overtake Alex Albon’s Williams—a battle that lasted for much of the race.
