Lewis Hamilton has a steep studying curve forward of him if the rain comes down throughout Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver, who certified eighth behind his team-mate Charles Leclerc, mentioned he was unfamiliar with some switches in that context.
“Frickin’ hell, I’ve by no means pushed the automotive within the moist,” he mentioned on Saturday. “I do not know which buttons I will change to tomorrow, in order that’s going to be new.
Learn Additionally:
“We’re utilizing Brembos, which I’ve not used for an extended, very long time,” he mentioned of the automotive’s brakes. “So I don’t understand how the Brembos behave within the moist, or what settings we’ll have to make use of with this automotive.”
Moist situations are predicted for Albert Park tomorrow, with a 70% probability of noon showers. “If you qualify eighth you sort of hope for it to be moist, however I’ve solely bought three laps to be taught the automotive within the moist after which get out [for the race],” he mentioned. “It’s going to be a shock to the system, however I will be studying on the fly and simply giving it every little thing.”
Hamilton additionally admitted it had been a “gradual course of” discovering “confidence” within the Ferrari. “When you’ve gotten an issue with the automotive and also you are available in, usually while you’ve bought the expertise, you possibly can say, ‘OK that is the place I wish to go together with it’, however I do not know which device to make use of in the intervening time,” he mentioned. “So I am closely relying for the primary time on my engineers, they usually’ve completed an awesome job.”
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Picture by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Pictures
Along with the ‘moist change’, there are a number of objects on the automotive that Hamilton is but to discover. “There is a ton of instruments that I am nonetheless coming out like, ‘I’ve by no means tried that, what does it do?’” he mentioned. The general really feel of the Ferrari can be “so totally different” from the Silver Arrows that he drove for the previous 12 years.
“Braking and through-corner stability is lots totally different to what I had [at Mercedes],” he defined. “The mechanical stability shift is far, a lot totally different… and the high-speed stability, the low-speed stability is kind of a shift.”
Nonetheless, Hamilton mentioned he noticed “enhancements each single lap, session on session” all through the weekend, though he was constantly behind Leclerc.
“I have been down all weekend to Charles, who simply had it from the get-go from the minute he went out,” the seven-time world champion mentioned. “He knew what the automotive does however I used to be simply constructing as much as that via the weekend, and I believe I bought lots nearer in direction of it in the long run.”
Photographs from Australian GP – Apply & Qualifying
On this article
Emily Selleck
Components 1
Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari
Be the primary to know and subscribe for real-time information e-mail updates on these subjects
Subscribe to information alerts