After a long build-up, Lewis Hamilton finally takes in his first start for Ferrari in Australia.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has said the “huge wave” of marketing after the arrival of Lewis Hamilton will switch “back to reality” once qualifying starts in Melbourne.
Hamilton was 12th fastest in first practice, but the Ferrari boss was quick to point out where his predecessor, Carlos Sainz, was in the lower reaches of the top 10 in practice last season before going on to win the Australian Grand Prix – highlighting the irrelevance of early running.
Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari ‘back to reality’ once first qualifying session arrives
With plenty of build-up having taken place, the first barometer of where the teams are in terms of performance will come on low fuel in qualifying on Saturday.
Vasseur explained that every team is in the “same situation” of being “best friends” and potential World Champions over the winter break, but then “reality” hits once the track action starts.
As for Hamilton, the Ferrari boss explained there remains an acclimatisation process within the team, but the seven-time World Champion is “fully focused on the objective.”
When presented with Hamilton’s comments that he is currently in the most exciting period of his life after his Ferrari move, the team principal agreed with that sentiment, but also wanted to look to “business as usual” now that track action has begun.
“The word of Lewis? Don’t ask me,” Vasseur quipped in the team principals’ press conference in Melbourne.
“I’m thinking the same, but for sure I think he’s happy, it’s a good journey for him, he enjoys what he’s doing, and we enjoy to work with him.
“But you know that we are all in the same situation that we’re all doing the winter period. We are all World Champion, we are all best friends, and then you have the first quali and we are back to the reality. And that’s okay.
“Now it’s the start of the season, and we have to be focused on this.
“We had two months of marketing, I would say that it was a huge wave that we had at the beginning.
“The most important [thing] is to be able to turn this page and to be back to business as usual, and to do the FP1 and the FP2, and it will be a long way.
“We have something like 150 sessions over the year, but it means that it’s just the beginning of the story, as James [Vowles] said before, and we have just to be focused on it, to forget about the world around us and to work as a team.
“But, honestly, when he’s in the briefing room, he is fully focused on the objective, and he knows perfectly the job, and he has to build up the relationship with the team. And this is not a long process, but it’s a process that we have to follow. And we are on this path, but honestly we don’t have to expect too much for the first session.
“We know that we have a long way and honestly, that we did a good step also, I think, compared to last year. And I have a good feeling about that.
“I have absolutely no doubt that he will be able to perform and to perform soon. And last year, I think that Carlos [Sainz] was P8 or P9 in free practice, and he won the race.”
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