Hamilton's Friday put into perspective: 'A tenth is a lot nowadays'
F1 News
Lewis Hamilton had a solid first day of racing action for the Australian Grand Prix, though some will certainly argue otherwise, since the seven-time world champion failed to match teammate Charles Leclerc's performance. Speaking to GPblog and others, Jerome D'Ambrosio, Ferrari's Deputy Team Principal, said that the Italian team, Hamilton included, should not be judged on the first weekend.
For whoever doubts it, D'Ambrosio argues that Hamilton has been completely absorbed within Ferrari. "I think he's been very good from day one," says the Belgian, who serves as Frederic Vasseur's right-hand man. "His first day, he shook 1,000 plus people's hands, and that that made a big impression on the team. It was very good. I think in terms of integration it's been fantastic. Also with Charles working really well together so far."
D'Ambrosio and Hamilton have a history with each other. For instance, they both previously worked for Mercedes. According to the former driver, that helps with the integration. "As I said, [his integration with the team] was very smooth, and it wasn't because of any single person. It's just because it worked well. His personality fit in well with the team and I think that's about it."
Ferrari won't be fooled
While the preparation for the season went well, in the end it is about results. In Melbourne, Ferrari wants to strike straight away. "Having said that again, I think it's important to reiterate that it's the first race. It's one track. And if you look at last year, from one track to the other you can have a difference in results, simply because the field is so tight that if one layout suits you a bit better than the other one, it might be only relative [to] one tenth, but a tenth nowadays is a lot," D'Ambrosio stated.
This article was written in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen.
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