Ferrari boss makes confident prediction amid Lewis Hamilton doubts

Ferrari F1 team principal Fred Vasseur has made a confident prediction that Lewis Hamilton will be able to “perform soon”.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton was down in 12th in opening practice at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on his Ferrari debut and also 0.6s off the pace set by teammate Charles Leclerc, who was third.

Hamilton improved to fifth in second practice but was once again unable to match Leclerc, ending up 0.420s adrift of the 27-year-old Monegasque who topped FP2 ahead of the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

The 40-year-old Briton only had one-and-a-half days of testing behind the wheel of Ferrari’s new car prior to Friday’s running in Melbourne.

“It's not [the goal] that he has to be at the limit on one session, it's not a matter of speed,” Ferrari boss Vasseur said after opening practice at Albert Park.

“The target is to for him to know everybody into the team, to discover the software, the process, the system. I’m really convinced that we have something very similar to Mercedes, but at the end of the day, perhaps not with the same name or the same way to use them.

“It’s just a learning process. We did one or two test days with the TPC one month or two months ago. It was a good way to approach it, but nothing compared to the race weekend. You know that means that we have to go through and we have to do it. I'm not worried at all about this.

“You can’t draw a conclusion after the first session. I have absolutely no doubt he will be able to perform and perform soon. Last year, I think Carlos was P8 or P9 in free practice, and he won the race.”

Vasseur has ‘good feeling’ about Hamilton

Hamilton has spent recent weeks adjusting to his new team and their working practices after making his first appearance at Ferrari’s famous Maranello factory back in late January.

"We had two months of marketing - it was a huge wave at the beginning,” Vasseur added.

“The most important thing is to be able to turn the page and get back to business as usual, to do FP1, FP2. It’s a long way. We have something like 150 sessions over the year, so this is just the beginning of the story.

“We just have to focus on it and forget about the world around us and work as a team. But honestly, when he’s in the briefing room, he’s fully focused on the objective and he knows the job perfectly, and he has to build relationships with the team.

“That’s not a long process, but it’s a process we have to follow. We are on that path. We shouldn’t expect too much from the first session - that’s not the target. We know we have a long way to go, and honestly, we did a good step compared to last year and I have a good feeling.”