Hamilton evaluates pole position chances on Ferrari F1 debut

Lewis Hamilton has played down his chances of securing pole position at the Australian Grand Prix.

The event marks Hamilton's race debut for Ferrari after the seven-time champion parted ways with Mercedes at the end of the 2024 campaign.

Hamilton ended the second practice session in fifth place while team-mate Charles Leclerc topped the timesheet with an impressive effort.

Hamilton is an eight-time pole-sitter around Albert Park, achieving the most pole positions in Australian Grand Prix history.

However, as he continues to get up to speed at Ferrari, the Briton is reluctant to throw his name into the list of contenders.

“For me, it’s a little bit early as I continue to learn the car,” Hamilton said. “I’ll still give it everything I’ve got tomorrow and not put too much pressure on myself.

“There’s pace to find, I know where I’ve got to find it. I’ve just got to go out and do it.”

Hamilton detailed the biggest obstacle he is facing is knowing how to use the set-up to extract pace in his new environment.

“FP1 was a little bit messy, FP2 it was starting to look a bit better,” he said. 

“I’m still getting used to all the set-up changes, I don’t have them on call like I used to have at Mercedes because I had been there for so long.

“I knew all of the set-up changes. I’m still working through understanding what tools we can use. 

“It’s interesting to see Charles, he just knows because he’s been here for such a long time. But I’m slowly placing the pieces of the puzzle together.”