Ferrari had a poor begin to their F1 2025 marketing campaign, as Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc had a troublesome season-opening Australian GP. Hamilton managed to complete in tenth place, the ultimate level place. Alternatively, Leclerc got here eighth, bagging 4 factors solely.
Ferrari group principal Frederic Vasseur with drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.(REUTERS)
Leclerc and Hamilton have been in sixth and eighth positions respectively, when rain struck. The downpour started to hit elements of the race monitor, with 13 laps to go.
However as an alternative the pair determined to maintain the slick tyres longer than their rivals within the late phases. On the finish of lap 44 when Oscar Piastri spun off fully, race chief Lando Norris went straight for the pit lane and adjusted to intermediate tyres. Max Verstappen took the lead by staying out, after which the downpour elevated, which additionally led the Pink Bull driver to vary tyres two laps later.
Leclerc and Hamilton remained till lap 47, and by then the Security Automobile had been referred to as for 2 crashes. Hamilton was second and Leclerc was third, with the latter having spun on lap 44. In the meantime, Norris remained in pole place. Then Ferrari determined to pit forward of the race restart, altering to intermediates, which despatched their drivers to ninth and tenth respectively.
‘We made the wrong call’: Ferrari boss
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur accepted that it was a tactical mistake, when requested about their tyre technique. Chatting with reporters, he stated, “It was a strange situation because sector one and two were still dry and sector three was completely wet and it was a kind of a bet I think that Red Bull and us, we bet on the fact that we have to stay on track and to wait for the last part of the race with slicks.”
“When Mercedes and McLaren, but McLaren it’s also because they went out that they pitted two laps before. We made the wrong call because I think the best option was to pit the same lap as Max and we made the wrong call at this stage,” he added.
In the meantime, Hamilton, after rejoining in ninth place, was heard saying on the group radio to new race engineer Riccardo Adami that he assumed listening to that it wasn’t going to rain quite a bit, and that they missed a great alternative. Alternatively, Leclerc was advised by his race engineer that the downpour was going to extend.
Commenting on the 2 drivers receiving totally different messages, Vasseur defended his group. He stated, “Yes, but this is very difficult that we don’t have a sensor for the rain, it means that it’s more a feeling, it’s what we can see on the screen, what we can have on the radar, it’s true from corner to corner.”
“I think we were all surprised by the quantity of rain at this stage of the race, McLaren first, and now we did debate to stay on track with the slicks and to survive, but it was the wrong call.”
Hamilton’s Ferrari debut didn’t go in accordance with plan and the British driver might be extraordinarily dissatisfied. Lando Norris gained the race, with Verstappen ending in second place, and George Russell got here third.