India, March 17 -- Ferrari experienced a challenging beginning to their F1 2025 season, as both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc faced difficulties during the Australian Grand Prix. Hamilton finished in 10th place, securing the last point, while Leclerc ended up in eighth, earning only four points.

At one point in the race, Leclerc and Hamilton were positioned sixth and eighth, respectively, when rain began to affect parts of the track with 13 laps remaining.

Despite the worsening conditions, both drivers opted to extend their use of slick tyres longer than their competitors in the closing stages. When Oscar Piastri spun out at the end of lap 44, race leader Lando Norris immediately headed to the pit lane to switch to intermediate tyres. Max Verstappen, however, chose to remain on track, taking the lead until the rain intensified, prompting him to change tyres two laps later.

Leclerc and Hamilton continued on slicks until lap 47, at which point a Safety Car was deployed due to two crashes. Hamilton was in second place, while Leclerc, who had spun on lap 44, was in third. Norris maintained his pole position. Subsequently, Ferrari opted to pit before the race resumed, switching to intermediate tyres, which resulted in their drivers dropping to ninth and tenth positions.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur acknowledged that the tyre strategy was a tactical error when questioned about it. He stated to reporters, "It was an unusual situation because sectors one and two remained dry while sector three was entirely wet. It was a gamble for both Red Bull and us, as we decided to stay on track and wait until the final part of the race with slicks."

He further commented, "Mercedes and McLaren, particularly McLaren, made their pit stops two laps earlier. We made an incorrect decision because I believe the optimal choice would have been to pit on the same lap as Max, and we miscalculated at that moment."

In the meantime, Hamilton, who had re-entered the race in ninth position, was heard on the team radio expressing to his new race engineer, Riccardo Adami, that he had assumed there would not be significant rainfall and felt they had missed a valuable opportunity. Conversely, Leclerc received information from his race engineer indicating that the rain was expected to intensify.

In response to the differing messages received by the two drivers, Vasseur defended his team's approach. He stated, "Indeed, it is quite challenging as we lack a rain sensor, which means our assessments are largely based on intuition, what we observe on the screen, and the data available on the radar, which can vary from corner to corner."

"We were all taken aback by the volume of rain at this point in the race, including McLaren, and we did consider remaining on track with slick tires to endure the conditions, but ultimately, that was an incorrect decision."

Hamilton's debut with Ferrari did not unfold as anticipated, leaving the British driver notably disappointed. Lando Norris emerged victorious in the race, followed by Verstappen in second place, and George Russell in third.d.

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