Hamilton struck by Ferrari 'reality check' after Leclerc defeat

Lewis Hamilton has explained the 'reality check' he feels he has received during his first grand prix weekend at Ferrari after qualifying in eighth place.

Hamilton has been a step behind team-mate Charles Leclerc through the weekend and qualified one place behind the Monegasque as Ferrari took the fourth row at a track it has won four of the last six races.

His qualifying was not entirely error-free following a spin at Turn 11 in Q2, although he safely navigated the segment, but still ended nearly a second slower than pole-sitter Lando Norris.

Much of Hamilton's pre-season has been spent trying to lose the Mercedes muscle memory he has after 12 years with the team and getting up to speed with the Ferrari systems and tools, something he explained at great length. 

"It's been a big learning curve this weekend, the car was so much different from the moment I left the pit-lane, it was feeling so much different than I've ever experienced here," Hamilton explained to media including RacingNews365.

"It's been a lot slower process to really build confidence in the car and if you look at the high-speed everywhere, I've been down on Charles, who has just had it from the get-go. 

"From the minute he went out, he knows what the car does and I've been building up to that through the weekend, and I got a lot closer towards the end and to be that close to Charles in my first qualifying session, a great qualifier, I'm pretty happy.

When then pressed by RacingNews365 on what exactly the difficulties were, Hamilton expanded, mentioning the mechanical balance and tools in the car.

"Braking, just through corner balance is a lot different to what I had, the mechanical balance and shift is much different to the [Mercedes], and the high-speed, low-speed balance is quite a shift," he started.

"I thought I was further along than I was and then I got here in FP1 and was like: 'Jesus, I've still got a way to go.'

"There are still a ton of tools that [engineer Riccardo Adami is suggesting], and I'm like: 'I've never tried that, what does it do?'

"It is one thing saying it, but actually going out and feeling it, and bit by bit, we did some good work trying to move the car forward, but normally you come in when you've got the experience, you can say: 'This is where I want to go with it', but I don't know which tools to use at the moment.

"I'm heavily relying on my engineers and they've done a great job, but in the past, I would say: 'This is what I want, I want this setting, that setting, but I can't do that."