Despite finishing 10th in Australia, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton is confident his team can find the pace to battle McLaren at Chinese GP this weekend
Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari leads Oscar Piastri’s McLaren at the Australian Grand Prix recently. Pic/Getty Images; (inset) Lewis Hamilton
An upbeat Lewis Hamilton declared on Thursday that things would be different at the Chinese Grand Prix after a disappointing debut with Ferrari in Melbourne, believing his new team “can close the gap” on McLaren.
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The seven-time world champion qualified eighth and finished 10th at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
“I’m just going to set the car up a bit different this weekend,” Hamilton told reporters ahead of his second outing in red at the Shanghai International Circuit, where he has won on a record six occasions.
“I think as I get more and more comfortable and more knowledgeable about the car, I can start making more decisions [about its set-up]. I’m having those discussions and going to lean a little bit more with adding my experience,” he added.
Hamilton’s former Mercedes teammate George Russell told reporters that McLaren which claimed victory in Australia thanks to Lando Norris, were quick enough to win every race. But Hamilton cautioned: “It has only been one race. Yes, McLaren has done a great job and they’re looking very strong. We’re still just taking the time to learn the car and to be able to extract more from it.”
“We definitely have work to do, but I think we can close the gap to McLaren,” added Hamilton. Hamilton conceded it had been a poor weekend for Ferrari in Melbourne, where the team strategists gambled and lost on leaving him out on slick tyres when he was leading as rain returned.
“I mean, it wasn’t the race that we wanted, but it’s not a moment to throw the toys out the pram. It is what it is. One small thing could have made a big difference in our result, but yeah, we move forward. Everyone’s still motivated. The energy is still good in the garage. We’re not going to be defined by that one race,” said the Briton.
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