Commentator and former Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle did not mince his words in his analysis of Lewis Hamilton‘s performance in Melbourne. The seven-time world champion had a difficult start to his Ferrari adventure. After an unimpressive qualification, he ultimately scored only one point for the Scuderia. According to Brundle, it should have been much more.
“You could say that Lewis Hamilton had to get used to his new steering wheel and other aspects of the car, but no matter how you look at it, this was a disappointing start to his Ferrari career,” Brundle wrote in an analysis for Sky Sports. “He started from the eighth spot on the grid, behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, and then couldn’t make a significant impact in the opening stages.”
‘Why so uncertain?’
“He lost some ground at the first turn,” the 65-year-old Brit observed. “It felt like he was stuck behind Alex Albon’s Williams for an eternity. In the final stages, he was overtaken in turn nine by Oscar Piastri. An impressive comeback from the Australian, but as a result, Hamilton fell back to tenth place,” Brundle emphasized. The former driver found it particularly notable that Hamilton had so much trouble with race engineer Riccardo Adami. “I don’t understand why he was so uncertain in his communication,” Brundle continued. “Adami was just trying to pass on useful information, but Hamilton largely ignored this. That’s not what we’re used to from him.”
“The Ferrari dream really fell apart when they dared to stay on the track on dry tires,” Brundle finally referred to the last phase of the race. “That cost both drivers many positions. As a result, Ferrari leaves this first race of the new season as seventh in the constructors’ championship.”
