Lewis Hamilton has admitted that for possibly the first time in his Formula 1 career he is not looking forward to racing in the wet when he makes his Ferrari debut.
The season-opening Australian Grand Prix is forecast to be a wet one, but Hamilton says he will be ‘uncomfortable’ in conditions he usually relishes – as he hasn’t fully got to grips with his new car yet.
In fact, he revealed just a day before Sunday’s early morning race that he didn’t even know where the wet switch was on his new steering wheel, and he is still getting used to Ferrari’s braking system.
It’s a pretty startling admission from the seven-time Formula 1 world champion, and one which has curbed any expectations that he might get his Ferrari career off to a glorious victory Down Under.
It’s not been smooth sailing for Hamilton in the build-up to the Aussie GP having struggled to match teammate Charles Leclerc in qualifying.
The British star survived a mid-session spin and qualified eighth in his first competitive outing in red, more than two-tenths behind Leclerc in seventh.
It sees the Italian giants needing to pull a rabbit out the hat to claim a podium place in Sunday’s race, with McLaren following up on their pre-season testing form by locking out the front of grid – Lando Norris claiming pole with native Aussie Oscar Piastri second heading into his home race.
Defending champion Max Verstappen sits third, with Hamilton’s old Mercedes teammate George Russell fourth.
To make matters worse for Hamilton, he even qualified behind Yuki Tsunoda of Racing Bulls and Alex Albon in the Williams, who qualified fifth and sixth respectively.
To compound a disastrous qualifying, Hamilton admitted afterwards that the drizzle will not be the ‘comfort blanket’ it usually is for him when he gets behind the wheel for his first race since his £50million move to the famous team in red.
“I have never driven the car in the wet,” he told journalists.
“I don’t even know where the wet switch is. I don’t know which buttons I have got to switch so that is going to be new.
“We are using Brembo brakes, which I have not used since I was much younger. What settings am I going to have to use with this car? It is all different.
“I thought I was further along than I was. I got to P1, and I was like Jeez I have still got a long way to go. I don’t know which tool to use at the moment, so I am heavily relying on my engineers for the first time.
“In the past I would say I want this setting, that setting, and I can’t do that at the moment.”
He even admitted that he will have to use the beginning of the race as a crash course on how to drive his new car in the rain – and he will be hoping that’s not a premonition.
“When you qualify eighth you hope for it to be wet, but for me I have got three laps to learn the car in the wet, and then I have got to go out and race,” he added.
“The wet has often been something I have enjoyed. Growing up in the UK, it has been a comfort zone for me.
“But for the first time in the wet I will be in an uncomfortable position. It will be a shock to the system when I get out there. I will be learning on the fly and giving it everything.”
On his lap times compared to teammate Leclerc, Hamilton said: “I have just been improving every single lap, session on session. It has been a big learning curve this weekend. The car felt so much different from what I have ever experienced here.
“If you look at the high speed I have been down all weekend to Charles, who had it from the get-go because he knew what the car does.
“For me, I got closer and I am happy to be that close to Charles in my first qualifying session against a great qualifier.”
