Lewis Hamilton Ferrari debut showed Michael Schumacher clues

Lewis Hamilton made his Formula 1 debut for Ferrari on Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix and it's safe to say it wasn't quite what we expected.

Hamilton put in a disappointing drive after qualifying only eighth behind team-mate Charles Leclerc before then only finishing in 10th spot.

F1 HEADLINES: Norris slips up as FIA penalty verdict changes Australian Grand Prix result

READ MORE: Ferrari investigation launched after Australian Grand Prix disaster

Granted, he could have snatched a podium with better team strategy following a late heavy shower but even then there was no masking his overall lack of pace around Melbourne.

Regardless of how you view his first race for Ferrari, it's far too early to draw conclusions but there are signs that Hamilton is showing familiar patterns to Michael Schumacher - the Ferrari star who Hamilton is trying to finally usurp his joint record of seven drivers' titles after joining from Mercedes.

The trouble is, the Schumacher he is currently replicating is the one who endured a sad decline at Mercedes rather than the one who was a jack-in-the-box from the start at Ferrari.

Hamilton and Schumacher tread similar paths

The Schumacher case is interesting, because he overlaps a lot with Hamilton's career. Hamilton for instance wasted little time in getting settled at Mercedes in 2013 (to replace Schumacher) after moving from McLaren in much the same way that Schumacher took like a duck to water at Ferrari in 1996 after joining from Benetton.

Even though Schumacher retired from his first race in Melbourne at Ferrari, his drive was like Max Verstappen's on Sunday, slightly down on a more dominant team - except he developed a mechanical issue that forced him to retire. There was plenty of Schumacher promise from what was a poor Ferrari car in the ugly 310 after the underachieving and sensational (looking at least) 412 T2 from 1995.

None of those signs were evident on Sunday as Hamilton lacked the overall pace compared to Charles Leclerc, who despite spinning still managed to overtake his team-mate.

But the racecraft was missing too, he looked too easily stuck behind other midfield cars and was magnificently passed around the outside by Oscar Piastri around turn 11. It's the sort of overtakes Hamilton is more likely to make than be a victim of.

The on-air struggles with his race engineer Riccardo Adami are concerning too - they are of course are fixable as a relationship develops - but if there is one thing Hamilton doesn't have in abundance right now it's time.

READ MORE: Max Verstappen and George Russell in tense exchange after Australian Grand Prix

Hamilton vs Father Time

He is 40 years old now - just a year younger than Schumacher was when he returned to F1 with Mercedes in 2010, who had just effectively won the world championship under their previous guise with Brawn.

Yet a sixth place on debut behind team-mate Nico Rosberg was followed by a 10th in Australia (!) and then a whole season of effectively just being beaten by Hamilton's future rival. The same positive spins were applied early on. Niki Lauda suggested he would take three races to get back up to speed, but it just never happened.

Age is perhaps the crucial part of this. Even in your 40s you are not going to be as physically capable as you were in your 30s. Kimi Raikkonen declined, Fernando Alonso while still quick isn't the beast he was from the first two decades of his career. F1 1996 world champion and late bloomer to the sport Damon Hill admitted recently that a lot of key things like peripheral vision start to reduce in your late 30s.

The Valentino Rossi and Ducati problem

And then there is the Ferrari car in general. Maybe it just doesn't suit Hamilton. It can happen to anyone in any sport. It's designed for Charles Leclerc admittedly but even the great Valentino Rossi who turned Yamaha from nobodies to world champions overnight after moving from Honda could never get to grips with the Ducati while he was still at the peak of his powers in MotoGP.

For Hamilton, these are all concerns. But no judgements can be made yet. Not at least because the Australian Grand Prix was a bit of an anomaly in terms of the incredibly tricky conditions that caught senior stars as well as rookies out in Melbourne.

China may offer more of a clue as to the early direction of Hamilton's Ferrari career but even then he only has one hour behind the wheel of setup work before it's back to the competitive grind. The joys of a sprint weekend. But if anyone can spring a surprise on the grid, Hamilton is the last person you write off.

READ MORE: F1 2025 Driver Lineup: Big names on the move as full grid complete

Related

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton's comments to Ferrari F1 engineer after Australian GP revealed

• Yesterday 18:57

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton in fiery exchange with Ferrari

• March 16, 2025 12:57