Lewis Hamilton’s verdict on first Ferrari qualifying and surprise deficit

Lewis Hamilton was encouraged by the small gap to teammate Charles Leclerc on his F1 qualifying debut for Ferrari.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton could only qualify eighth, one place behind Leclerc, as Ferrari struggled for one lap pace at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Hamilton admitted he was surprised by Ferrari’s eight-tenth deficit to McLaren’s Lando Norris, who stormed to pole position ahead of Oscar Piastri.

"I generally feel good,” Hamilton said. "I had a really good time out there today. Everything has been a first this weekend; my first practice sessions with Ferrari, my first qualifying.

“It's been a lot of work to really adapt, this car is so much different here to what I've experienced in the past. But it's been interesting.

"I definitely didn't know that we'd be eight tenths off today, but there is a lot to dissect for sure.”

Leclerc leads early Ferrari head-to-head

Hamilton has trailed new teammate Leclerc in every session in Melbourne so far but ended up just 0.218s slower on the final run of Q3.

The 40-year-old Briton was ultimately pleased with his effort as he continues to get up to speed at Ferrari and bounce back from his qualifying struggles during 2024. 

"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,” Hamilton explained.

"I'm still learning those so to be that close in my first qualifying session I'll definitely take it. We'll just get our heads down and start working trying to find out why we're not on pace with the front-runners.

"Tomorrow's going to be a challenge, I've never driven this car in the rain. I don't even know the rain settings so I've got to go and study that tonight and it'll be a learning experience again tomorrow."

Both Leclerc and Hamilton would not have expected to find themselves behind Yuki Tsunoda's Racing Bull, or Alex Albon's Williams, who qualified fifth and sixth respectively. 

Asked if he was surprised by Ferrari’s struggles, Leclerc replied: “Yes I am.

“Not totally surprised with the feeling I had in Q3, but surprised overall after a day like we had yesterday where everything ran smoothly. Everything felt pretty ok.

“In Q3 I found myself with a different car and I don’t really know why. So we’ve got to look into it.”