Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari was a grand affair and the team arranged many events and social media content to welcome him. The hype and anticipation surrounding his debut at the Australian GP, hence, rose meteorically.
However, as the #44 driver took the chequered flag at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne last weekend, he was dragged back to reality with a 10th-placed finish. Former Haas F1 boss Guenther Steiner believes that Hamilton’s ‘honeymoon period’ with Ferrari has come to an end.
“The honeymoon is over. Now he has to perform. He saw that it’s not that easy. He has to concentrate,” Steiner said as quoted by F1-Insider.
ferrari spent more time aura farming with 1644 than building a good car
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The SF-25, despite the promise it showed during pre-season testing, seemed like a difficult car to handle in the hands of both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Moreover, it became apparent that the seven-time world champion had not yet settled into the new car as he would have been expected to.
This has prompted the Italian-American engineer to deliver a grim verdict for the Scuderia. “Of the four big teams, Ferrari is under the most pressure,” he added. And while Hamilton was battling his own demons in the cockpit, the Ferrari pit wall made a disastrous strategy call that ruined their race.
Ferrari has major issues to fix before the Chinese GP
With the Chinese GP just days away, the Maranello-based team has many issues to fix if they want to be in contention for the win at the Shanghai International Circuit. One of these areas is their strategy department.
Despite a late-race rain shower, Ferrari did not pit their drivers for intermediate tires immediately. Instead, they took that call a lap too late, and this resulted in their drivers falling down the order. Such mistakes need to be ironed out as soon as possible.
On Hamilton’s front, his relationship with new race engineer Ricardo Adami is also a cause for concern. The duo haven’t been able to develop a bond that is conducive to performance on track.
Team principal Fred Vasseur believes that this will change with time. “It was the first race, the first time that we have to communicate between the pit wall and the car, and we can do a better job and know each other more,” he explained.
