Hamilton: I'm just grateful I kept it out of the wall

Hamilton's first race in Red was always going to be a challenging affair, as he was still getting up to speed with his new car and its systems, power unit, controls, etc.

But a below-par qualifying where Ferrari failed to display the same pace they showed early on in the weekend meant the seven-time Formula 1 champion started the race from eighth on the grid, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

What made matters more tricky for Hamilton was dealing with the traits of a Ferrari power unit in the wet conditions that prevailed over Melbourne's Alert Park track over the course of the race as the weather played games with all drivers and teams, as at one point it appeared to shift towards dry conditions only for the rain to come down again.

Furthermore, the communication over the Ferrari team radio between Hamilton and his race engineer,
Riccardo Adami showed that the Briton still needs some time to feel like home in his Red environment.

Speaking after the race, Hamilton said: "It was very tricky and went a lot worse than I thought it would go. The car was really, really hard to drive today.

"For me, I'm just grateful I kept it out of the wall because that's where it wanted to go most of the time," he claimed.

The winner of 105 grands prix went on: "A lot to take from it and just getting acclimatized with the new power unit in the wet conditions. The settings it requires are different, and a different way of driving and a different set-up on the steering wheel."

At one point when the track dried out and teams shifted to slick tyres and as Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Max Verstappen had moments and required pitting for Intermediates, Hamilton gambled and stayed out on dry tyres, briefly leading the race.

"I hung out as long as I could, got in the lead at one point," Hamilton reflected. "Just the guidance with how much more rain was coming, was missing there, so I think we missed out."

Hamilton walked away with one point from the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, hardly a result he would be happy with given the hype that surrounded his move to Ferrari.

(Quotes from Sky Sports F1)