Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari absence strikes Australian Grand Prix

An unprecedented absence for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc has been noted at the Australian Grand Prix.

Formula 1 heads to Melbourne this weekend for the season-opening grand prix around the Albert Park Circuit, and Hamilton will be taking part in his first grand prix weekend with the Ferrari team.

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The 40-year-old has teamed up with Leclerc as the team hope to win their first championship title of any kind since 2008.

However, both drivers have now been reported as absent for a staple of the first race of the season, the driver portrait photos.

Hamilton and Leclerc absent from photo shoot

For the first time, not all drivers were present at the driver portrait shots, according to legendary F1 photographer Kym Illman.

Hamilton is the biggest superstar on the F1 grid, and photos of him wearing the iconic red of Ferrari have been in hot demand since his move at the beginning of the year.

The seven-time champion has teamed up with the most successful team in F1 history, and is hoping to challenge for a record-breaking eighth world championship title before his career comes to an end.

Now, Illman has revealed ahead of the season-opening Australian GP that he was not able to get shots of the new Ferrari driver pairing in their race gear.

"It was drivers portrait shots today in the paddock, with all of the drivers arriving for a couple of minutes for the photographers to shoot them," Illman revealed on his YouTube channel.

"Except two drivers. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. This is the first time I'm told by seasoned photographers that drivers have not shown up for this start of the season shot.

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"It's pretty much been an institution because drivers have to go to the FIA garage, where they're weighed in their suits, helmets, hands devices, and on the way back they stop for a minute for a picture.

"However, Ferrari have said that they already have those images and they make them available to the media, and as such, they saw no reason for their drivers to do this, which is sad."

Going on to talk about the seven-time champion's Australian GP arrival, Illman said: "Lewis Hamilton arrived this morning, and to my delight he was wearing fashionable gear.

"We'd feared that him arriving in Ferrari kit at testing would put an end to him wearing fashion in the paddock, but that's not the case, he was wearing a Jacamo suit without a shirt."

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