F1
Ferrari’s big new signing finished fifth-fastest in second Melbourne practice in a session topped by team-mate Charles Leclerc; watch final practice at 1.30am on Saturday, before Qualifying for the Australian GP at 5am live on Sky Sports F1
Friday 14 March 2025 12:33, UK
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Lewis Hamilton says he is “slowly building” in his new Ferrari and getting faster “bit by bit” ahead of Australian GP Qualifying, after finishing fifth-fastest in Friday practice on an opening day to F1 2025 headed by team-mate Charles Leclerc.
But the seven-time world champion suspects it may be a “little bit early” for him to challenge for a maiden pole position in red for his new team as he has still “got some pace to find” in the car.
Hamilton’s first race weekend as a Ferrari driver at F1’s 2025 season-opener in Melbourne has been highly anticipated around the sport for months, with the Briton himself saying on Thursday that he was currently in the “most exciting period of my life”.
Hitting a sun-kissed Albert Park track in Ferrari’s SF-25 car for the first time on Friday, Hamilton opened his debut weekend in red by finishing 12th-fastest in the opening practice sessions, six tenths away from new team-mate Leclerc who took third.
In an early-season boost for Ferrari, Leclerc then outpaced title favourites McLaren in the more representative second session with Hamilton this time finishing slightly closer to the sister car, albeit still four tenths back in fifth place and clearly with more pace still to find.
“It’s (been) a super exciting build-up to this week and it felt amazing to get out there and be in a Ferrari here,” said Hamilton after second practice.
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“Honestly, the car felt so much different to what I’ve ever experienced coming to this track, so it took a little bit of bedding in through P1.
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“P2 was definitely a littler better but just building. We’re slowly building and getting a little bit faster bit by bit.”
Hamilton is the record eight-time polesitter at Albert Park but, asked if he was allowing himself to dream of a debut timesheet-topping performance on Saturday at 5am, he conceded: “For me I think it’s a little bit early as I continue to just get to learn the car – but never say never.
“I’ll still give it everything I’ve got. Just not putting too much pressure on it, just going to try and enjoy it. I’ve got some pace to find, I know where I’ve got to find it, just about going out and doing it. But just building.”
Practice One
3) Charles Leclerc – 1:17.461
12) Lewis Hamilton +0.610
Practice Two
1) Charles Leclerc – 1:16.439
5) Lewis Hamilton +0.420
He added: “The long run was competitive with the others as well. I think McLaren look pretty quick, it looks pretty close up top.”
Hamilton has already spoken about how different the experience of driving a Ferrari is compared with a Mercedes, whose works team he had driven for since 2013 and whose engines have powered his entire F1 career before this year.
Asked how the SF-25 differed to other cars he had driven around Albert Park, Hamilton said: “Just different, just a lot different.
“But the car doesn’t feel bad or anything, it just requires a different way of driving. So, adjusting my driving style bit by bit, but enjoying driving.”
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Analysis from Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok:
“It was a reasonable day but when you look at the timesheets at the end, it’s four tenths the gap between him and Leclerc, who had a fantastic day.
“When you look at the long-run pace, a couple of tenths still between them which is probably more what you’d expect. At the end of the day, it’s Lewis’ first weekend here so I suspect he’s dialling himself in.
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur speaking about Lewis Hamilton after opening practice in Melbourne:
“I have absolutely no doubt he will be able to perform and perform soon.
“Last year, I think Carlos [Sainz] was P8 or P9 in free practice, and he won the race.
“It’s not that he has to be at the limit on one session, you know. It’s not a matter of speed.
“The target is to for him to know everybody into the team, to discover the software, the process, the system, that I think 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 and it’s just a learning process.”
“It might take two or three weekends to get his feet in just for those fine details [about driving a Ferrari], in a sport where those details make the difference. Lewis won’t have the bank of knowledge yet; he needs to build that into his own memory bank and that will take a couple of weekends.
“Even as a driver as extraordinary and exceptional as Lewis Hamilton, you can’t shortcut that learning process.
“But I don’t think he’ll be too concerned at being a couple of tenths away from Charles because I think he’s the sort of person that when it matters in qualifying will have the ability to turn it up a little bit more.”
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While Hamilton may still be bedding into his new team and machinery just seven weeks after starting work at the Prancing Horse, the new 2025 car he is driving certainly appears to have front-running promise after Leclerc hit the ground running to kick off his seventh season at the squad.
The Monegasque outpaced the McLarens, the pre-season title favourites, by just over a tenth of a second in Practice Two and appeared in tune with the SF-25 around the tricky Albert Park layout.
“Obviously we did good preparation work,” said Leclerc. “There are things we need to improve as always, and I’m not very happy with the balance yet, but we’re in a much better place compared to Bahrain testing and there’s a lot of performance to find.
“But that’s the same for everyone in the paddock. Those cars are pretty new for everyone so you’ve got to push it to understand where exactly is the limit. But it has been a solid first day and we need to wait and see how it goes [on Saturday] when we push a bit more.”
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Asked to assess the competitive picture between the big four teams, Leclerc added: “I don’t know for now, it’s too early to say, I don’t think we have seen the real pace of everybody yet and some teams might hide their game a bit more than others.
“But for sure McLaren is up there. I think Red Bull might be struggling a little bit more for now but you never know with them and, especially with Max [Verstappen], you can never really rule them out. So I’m sure they will be in the fight, and Mercedes look strong as well, so it’s going to be a good fight.”
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But while Leclerc stressed he was staying “cautious” about Ferrari’s prospects heading into the year’s first Qualifying – which will give 2025’s first true picture of the pecking order on absolute low fuel – he did concede that “it’s right to say that after a day like this we are looking forward to [Qualifying] and we want to try to target pole position”.
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