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’ll change to tomorrow, in order that’s going to be new.
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“We’re utilizing Brembos, which I’ve not used for a protracted, very long time,” he mentioned of the automotive’s brakes. “So I don’t know the way the Brembos behave within the moist, or what settings we will have to make use of with this automotive.”
Moist circumstances are predicted for Albert Park tomorrow, with a 70% probability of noon showers. “Once you qualify eighth you type of hope for it to be moist, however I’ve solely received three laps to study 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’ll 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 got an issue with the automotive and also you are available in, usually once you’ve received the expertise, you possibly can say, ‘OK that is the place I wish to go along 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, and so they’ve achieved an ideal job.”
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Picture by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Photos
Along with the ‘moist change’, there are a number of gadgets 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 completely different” from the Silver Arrows that he drove for the previous 12 years.
“Braking and through-corner stability is loads completely different to what I had [at Mercedes],” he defined. “The mechanical stability shift is far, a lot completely different… and the high-speed stability, the low-speed stability is kind of a shift.”
Nevertheless, Hamilton mentioned he noticed “enhancements each single lap, session on session” all through the weekend, despite the fact that 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 by way of the weekend, and I believe I received loads nearer in the direction of it in the long run.”
Pictures from Australian GP – Follow & Qualifying
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Emily Selleck
Formulation 1
Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari
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