Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur was reportedly annoyed that Lewis Hamilton was told over his team radio to stay out on the track during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion was almost dumped out of qualifying at the first hurdle but went on to reach Q3 and secure a P8 start in Sunday’s race.
Hamilton opted to swap Mercedes for Ferrari over the winter after his Silver Arrows career had petered out with three underwhelming seasons. And he will be aiming to return to the front of the grid this season. But the Scuderia appear to have more work to do, with Hamilton finishing qualifying almost a second slower than pole-sitter Lando Norris.
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Hamilton will be clear that he needs to improve on his performance in qualifying if he is to challenge the likes of Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen on Sunday.
But Saturday’s qualifying session could have ended a lot worse for the Briton, with Sky Sports presenter Ted Kravitz giving an insight into Vasseur’s frustrations on his Notebook show.
“It was ‘phew’ for Lewis Hamilton,” Kravitz began. “He was just into Q2 on his last run with a P6, having looked like he would have been out in Q1 if he’d messed up that last attempt. It was quite possible today for Lewis Hamilton to be out in Q1 - it was that tight.
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“And then what Fred Vasseur, the team boss, said was that whether they messed up the set-up or the execution or the running, they were out on track at the wrong time. Hamilton said on the team radio, ‘Am I boxing?’. And Riccardo Adami, his engineer, said, ‘Yes.’
“And then there was a, ‘Stay out, stay out’ that we’ve heard Ferrari say in the past. And Lewis was like, ‘What happened there?’
“It’s a good question, and what happened was they didn’t have time to box him and put on new tyres. Anyway, he didn’t have new tyres left.
“It wasn’t anywhere near perfect today. And Fred Vasseur, the team boss, [was] a bit annoyed about it.”
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Hamilton will start directly behind his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in Sunday’s race, having finished with a slightly slower time than the Monegasque star in qualifying.
And ahead of the showpiece event, the 40-year-old explained: “For me, I have built up towards it through the weekend and I got closer.
“And to be that close to Charles in my first qualifying session in the car against a great qualifier, I am happy.”