Australian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton says first drive for Ferrari ‘a big crash course’
It was the chaotic start of the season at Albert Park, which started wet, dry and wet again, and featured three safety cars, a stop-start and a series of crashes.
Hamilton finished eighth and said: “I’m grateful, I got this, at least a little bit.
“Obviously I didn’t walk or spin. There was definitely a lack of pace, but I do believe this car performs more than we were able to extract this weekend.”
He said the team left too late to stop and head to Treed Tires when the rain passed 13 laps – he paused three laps after Norris and Verstappen.
Hamilton said: “The last department of (the circle), everyone was getting off the car, but I managed to stick with it, so I just passed by people and once we got to the starting line, that was done.
“So I was like, ‘It’s good for me, I just have to come up with this problem, I only have a few laps to go.”
“But then it just fell out in the last two laps or something, and that’s the moment we should be in.
“At that moment, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m third.
