Ferrari looked competitive in pre-season testing and the opening stages of the F1 Australian GP weekend but ended the race with Charles Leclerc in 8th and Lewis Hamilton in P10.
The Italian team struggled to keep the rear tyres alive in qualifying, which cost Ferrari a lot of time in the final sector.
Hamilton in particular endured a frustrating day as the seven-time world champion spent much of the 57 laps stuck behind Alex Albon.
Lewis Hamilton and engineer Riccardo Adami weren’t in sync
Moving to a new team is a complicated process, and Hamilton’s Ferrari move is just the second time the British driver has switched between squads.
A key pillar of his success at Mercedes was the relationship Hamilton had with his engineer, Peter Bonnington. This relationship contributed to the German team’s six world championship wins.
There were some communication issues between Hamilton and Adami. Fred Vasseur pinpointed this as the main area of improvement ahead of China for Ferrari.
He said in his print media session: “It was not a shock but for sure it was not a good weekend for us. But we focus on next week [the Chinese Grand Prix] and learn a lot from this weekend because we made a mistakes.
“We need to improve the communication, understand what Lewis needs from the communication. It is only in this situation that we can be in the situation. We will be much better next week.”
Hamilton asked the team to provide him with less information over the race. Especially with tyre temperature and settings on the steering wheel.
Communication between the driver and engineer was especially critical at Albert Park. Rain fell towards the end of the Grand Prix but Ferrari failed to take advantage amid indecisiveness over the radio.
Hamilton just missed the perfect moment to pit for intermediate tyres. He briefly led the race under the Safety Car after Gabriel Bortoleto’s crash before dropping out of contention for a podium.
He eventually slumped to 10th place after being overtaken by Oscar Piastri in the closing stages as Leclerc took P8.
By contrast, George Russell and Mercedes aced communication to deliver third place at the season opener in Australia.
Ferrari need to hit the ground running in China
The second round of the world championship in China presents the opportunity for Ferrari to build momentum.
Hamilton is heading to the Shanghai International Circuit looking for his record-extending seventh win at the track.
The Sprint weekend format will require Ferrari to be on the pace immediately. McLaren in particular look to be a step ahead in qualifying and over a race distance.
