“I’ll Definitely Take It”: Lewis Hamilton Is Pleased to Be ‘So Close’ to Charles Leclerc in His First Qualifying for Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton joined Ferrari after 12 successful, trophy-laden years at Mercedes. However, the switch brought a new environment, with Ferrari’s cars being drastically different from the Silver Arrows’ machinery. Hamilton was well aware that he would face a learning curve and that adapting would take time.

The seven-time world champion had a shaky qualifying session at Albert Park ahead of the Australian GP, finishing eighth and trailing teammate Charles Leclerc—far from the position he would have hoped for.

Not the smoothest of Qualis for the team, but we’ll bring the fight tomorrow pic.twitter.com/IcgQHoShen

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 15, 2025

Hamilton felt he was decent. The fact that he wasn’t too far behind Leclerc—who has been at Ferrari for six seasons now—showed that he was on the right track. That said, he did expect the car to perform slightly better.

“I definitely didn’t know that we’d be eight-tenths off (pole) today, but there is a lot to dissect for sure,” Hamilton said to Sky Sports.

Lewis Hamilton’s spin in Q2!#F1 #Formula1 #AusGPpic.twitter.com/YVsSFsuAYm

— Extreme Cars (@extremecars__) March 15, 2025

“Charles has been in this team for seven years, he knows this car in and out — not necessarily the new one, but the general characteristics of our cars — and all the tools and everything,” the 40-year-old said. “I’m still learning those, so to be that close in my first qualifying session, I’ll definitely take it“.

Hamilton acknowledged that this was his first competitive qualifying session with Ferrari and used it as an opportunity to understand the car’s behavior by experimenting with different setups.

“I was really exploring all the kerbs, really giving it everything,” he said, explaining how he was trying to learn aspects he couldn’t fully explore during testing. Now, with heavy rain and thunderstorms expected for the race on Sunday, Hamilton thinks he’ll learn more about the car. “I’ve never driven this car in the rain. So, I am going to go away tonight and learn.” 

Hamilton mentioned that since he has never driven the SF-25 in wet conditions, he will need to study the race settings to prepare. While he isn’t expecting miracles, he hopes to use his experience in the rain to maximize his Ferrari’s performance and possibly fight for a podium.

Considering this is just his first competitive weekend with the team, that would be a strong result.