Ferrari call on Lewis Hamilton improvement

Lewis Hamilton's struggles on his Ferrari race debut have prompted a brutally honest response from the team principal.

The seven-time Formula 1 world champion was in action for the first time with his new team at last weekend's season-opening Australian Grand Prix following his sensational switch from Mercedes.

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But it turned out to be a weekend to forget for the 40-year-old, who finished an incident-packed race down in 10th, two places behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Lando Norris successfully converted his pole position into a fine victory, with defending champion Max Verstappen and Mercedes' George Russell also featuring on the podium.

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Hamilton has made no secret of his desire to challenge for the title having endured several years of frustration at Mercedes, but has admitted he will take some time to get to grips with his new car and surroundings.

Problems regarding pit-to-car radio communications played a significant part in Hamilton's struggles in Melbourne, with the F1 star engaging in several tense exchanges with new race engineer, Ricciardo Adami.

That, in addition to the team's decision to keep him out on slick tyres amid treacherous conditions, ensured it was a disappointing start to Hamilton's career at the Scuderia.

Speaking post-race, team principal Fred Vasseur made it clear that the team must learn from their mistakes and make big improvements ahead of this week's Chinese Grand Prix.

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"It was the first race, the first time that we have to communicate between the pit wall and the car, and we can do a better job and know each other more," Vasseur said.

"For sure it was not a clean one at all, the strategy was difficult and we need to find a better way to communicate between the car and the pit wall but we will learn from Race 1 and it is not an issue.

"It was not a shock but for sure it was not a good weekend for us. But we focus on next week [the Chinese Grand Prix] and learn a lot from this weekend because we made mistakes.

"We need to improve the communication, understand what Lewis needs from the communication, and it is only in this situation that we can be in the situation. We will be much better next week."

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