Lewis Hamilton eyes dream Ferrari start as Formula One revs up in Melbourne

MELBOURNE – Lewis Hamilton will look to lay down an immediate marker against world champion Max Verstappen when the Briton makes his highly anticipated Ferrari debut at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix this week.

The former Mercedes ace Hamilton is bidding for a record eighth world title and his first since 2020 after being outshone by the Dutchman and his imperious Red Bull team over the intervening years.

A bombshell move to Ferrari after a glorious 12-year spell at Mercedes has rejuvenated the 40-year-old, who is eager to apply the lessons learnt from 162 laps of testing at Bahrain in February to race conditions.

“I’m so excited to get to the first race in Melbourne. I can’t wait to go racing with them,” Hamilton said of Ferrari.

“The passion here is like nothing you’ve ever seen. They’ve got absolutely every ingredient they need to win a world championship, and it’s just about putting all the pieces together.”

Hamilton has tasted victory twice before at the fast and bumpy Albert Park circuit with McLaren and Mercedes, but not since 2015.

Ferrari have fared better, winning four of the last six Australian races including in 2024 when Carlos Sainz, the man Hamilton replaced, took the chequered flag ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen started from pole but failed to finish in Melbourne in 2024, limping out with smoke billowing from a brake fire. It was a minor aberration for the Dutchman, who recovered from a slight hiccup just after mid-season to go on to clinch a fourth world title with two races to spare ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.

The 27-year-old Verstappen is now bidding to become only the second driver behind Michael Schumacher to win five championships in a row.

Verstappen has been keen to play down expectations.

“I don’t think we can fight for the win already in Melbourne. If you look at the lap times, then I think McLaren is the favourite,” Verstappen told Dutch media, referring to Bahrain testing.

On March 13, he added: “I know that we are not the quickest at the moment but, again, it’s a very long season. If you would have asked that question here last year and then, at the end of the season, again, you know, it looked completely different. So a lot of things can always change quite quickly.”

He is now partnered at Red Bull by Liam Lawson after the underperforming Sergio Perez was axed, with the New Zealander one of six drivers making their full-season debut in Australia.

Australian eyes will be on Jack Doohan, the son of five-time MotoGP world champion Mick, who makes his home bow with Alpine.

The other four are Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli, who took Hamilton’s Mercedes seat, Briton Oliver Bearman (Haas), Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber) and France’s Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls).

Verstappen’s caution follows Norris throwing down the gauntlet in 2024, when he led McLaren to their first team title since 1998.

As expected, McLaren were rapid in Bahrain with Norris and Australian teammate Oscar Piastri keen for statement drives at the March 14-16 Australian GP.

“This circuit has been good to us in the past and, hopefully, we’ve carried our momentum from 2024 into this year. We had a productive test, but we won’t know where we stand until qualifying on Saturday,” said Briton Norris.

The 25-year-old cautioned that he expects teams other than McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes to be more competitive this season saying: “I think this should be a very exciting season with a lot of close racing. There’s going to be a lot of competition.”

McLaren are confident that competition between Norris and 23-year-old Piastri, who signed a multi-year extension ahead of the season-opener, will not endanger the team’s F1 championship defence if the drivers find themselves battling for the individual title.

Said McLaren team principal Andrea Stella: “The respect, the relationship inside and outside the car, the head-to-head racing that happened at times between Lando and Oscar...

“They offered a couple of situations that we reviewed together, but offered a large majority of how we want to see our two drivers work together, race together, and this actually gave us a good reference as to how we want to continue for the future.”

Melbourne is back in its traditional position as the opening race of the season for the first time in five years, with the organisers expecting more than 450,000 fans through the Albert Park turnstiles.

The city had held the first grand prix almost every year since the Australian race moved from Adelaide in 1996, but has not done so since 2019 after the Covid-19 pandemic led to Bahrain taking over.

Meanwhile, Stefano Domenicali will remain president and chief executive of F1 until 2029 after extending his contract on March 12.

The Italian assumed the role in 2021 and has been instrumental in driving a strong period of growth for the business, with increased fan interest and demand for races around the world. AFP, REUTERS