Hamilton upset with team calls: 'The guidance... was missing'

Lewis Hamilton only just managed to score points on his Ferrari debut, and expressed disappointment at his team's communications during the Australian Grand Prix.

Expectations are high for Hamilton as he entered a new era by switching allegiance from Mercedes to Ferrari after spending his entire Formula 1 career with the former's power units.

However, it seems as though Ferrari have failed to provide the seven-time World Champion with race-winning machinery, and may well only have the fourth-fastest car on the grid in terms of pace for the time being.

Hamilton qualified for the Australian Grand Prix in eighth, while teammate Charles Leclerc could only manage one better in P7.

Really, Really Hard To Drive

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the eventful Grand Prix, which saw Lando Norris win for McLaren ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Hamilton was disappointed to see the chequered flag in P10. He said: "It was very tricky and went a lot worse than I thought it would go. The car was really, really hard to drive today.

"For me, I'm just grateful I kept it out of the wall because that's where it wanted to go most of the time. A lot to take from it and just getting acclimatised with the new power unit in the wet conditions.

"The settings it requires are different, and a different way of driving and a different set-up on the steering wheel," lamented the Briton.

• Read also: Norris masters chaos to beat Verstappen to Australian GP win

Hamilton also criticised his team for poor communication throughout the race. Expecting only light rain to fall in the closing stages of the Grand Prix, he stayed out on his set of Hard tyres for too long and dropped places after eventually being forced into the pits for Intermediate tyres.

He continued: "I hung out as long as I could, got in the lead at one point.

"Just the guidance with how much more rain was coming, was missing there, so I think we missed out."

Leclerc ultimately crossed the finish line in eighth position, with McLaren's Oscar Piastri splitting the Ferrari pairing.

The Maranello-based outfit will be hoping for better results at the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, commencing Sunday 23 March at 07:00 GMT (15:00 local time).

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