Ferrari’s Melbourne Misadventure Signals A Season Of Reckoning

Scuderia Ferrari HP’s 2025 Formula 1 campaign stumbled out of the gate at the Australian Grand Prix, limping away from Albert Park with a mere five points—an eighth for Charles Leclerc, a tenth for Lewis Hamilton—in a rain-lashed race that exposed strategic stumbles and pace deficits. Far from the podium dreams pinned on their SF-25, the Maranello squad faced a sobering reality check, trailing McLaren’s Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in a chaotic season opener.

The Melbourne weekend, billed as a showcase for Hamilton’s Ferrari debut and Leclerc’s title tilt, instead unravelled into a game of meteorological roulette. Sunshine had bathed Friday’s practice, but Sunday dawned damp, with intermittent showers escalating into a late-race deluge. The track’s shifting grip caught out six drivers—rookies Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan, and Gabriel Bortoleto among them—while Ferrari’s gamble to outwit the weather backfired, leaving both drivers mired in the midfield.

A Race of Ruin from the Off

Trouble brewed before the lights even flickered. Hadjar’s formation-lap spin into Turn 1’s wall delayed the start by 15 minutes, trimming the race to 57 laps. When it finally launched—all 20 cars on Intermediates—Leclerc seized the moment, vaulting from seventh to fifth, dispatching Williams’ Alex Albon and Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda with a deft Turn 1 move. Hamilton, starting eighth, wasn’t as fortunate, bogged down behind Albon’s FW47 and stuck in a procession as the damp track dried.

“It was a tough race and there are things we have to review and work on,” Leclerc admitted. “We weren’t the fastest out there, but in such weather conditions, there was a chance of scoring some big points, which we didn’t capitalise on today.” His early surge hinted at promise, but the day’s twists soon tested Ferrari’s mettle.

Hamilton, in his first race since swapping Mercedes’ silver for Ferrari’s red, found the opening stint a slog. “Not the start we wanted, but there’s lots to take away and work on from this one,” he said. “The start was okay, but I lost momentum out of Turn 1 on the outside of Charles and got stuck behind Albon for most of the race.” The seven-time champion’s baptism in the SF-25 was less about pace and more about survival, as the field stabilised until Lap 33.

Strategy Unravels in the Rain

Fernando Alonso’s heavy shunt into Turn 10’s barriers on Lap 34 unleashed the second Safety Car, prompting a mass dive for slicks. Ferrari opted for Hard compounds for both drivers, a conservative call as the track dried. Leclerc held fifth, Hamilton eighth, but the order froze—McLaren’s Norris and Oscar Piastri pulling away, Verstappen shadowing in third. Then, on Lap 45, a sharp shower hit, flipping the race into chaos.

The McLaren duo skidded off at Turn 9, Norris recovering to pit for Inters while Piastri lost ground. Verstappen and Ferrari stayed out, a bold bid to ride the Hard tyres through the rain. Hamilton briefly leapfrogged Leclerc, who spun at Turn 11’s greasy apex, dropping to ninth. “I lost a few positions after the spin at Turn 11,” Leclerc confessed. “In the end, it wasn’t that bad with the Safety Car that came out later on, but then we stopped a lap too late to switch to Inters, losing positions again.”

Team Principal Fred Vasseur owned the misstep: “We can’t be happy with today’s result as it doesn’t match the potential of our car, and that means, as a team, we didn’t do a good job. Charles got a good start, and Lewis was also fighting to move up the order. Then, when the rain returned, we took the risk of staying out, as indeed did Max (Verstappen). But then we got our next strategy move wrong by staying out one lap too long, and we paid the price.” Verstappen pitted on Lap 47, emerging second, while Ferrari lingered until Lap 48, haemorrhaging time as Leclerc and Hamilton wrestled their slick-shod cars through a downpour.

“The rain always mixes things up, and strategy comes down to timing and a bit of luck,” Hamilton noted. “We took a gamble and made up places, but then boxing too late for Inters cost us, dropping us to the back of the top 10 with too much ground to recover.” Emerging ninth and tenth, Leclerc clawed past Hamilton and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly to salvage eighth, while Hamilton overtook Gasly but yielded to Piastri’s late charge, settling for tenth.

Lessons in the Deluge

Leclerc dissected the fallout with a racer’s candour: “There are two things we have to look into. The first is easy—it was my mistake. The second is something we will sort out as a team, looking into our decisions and making sure we make the right call if the situation comes up again. It’s a continuous process of improvement. We are disappointed, but it’s good to know we’ll be back in the car in just a few days in China to give it another go.” His Turn 11 pirouette, a rare lapse for the Monegasque, underscored the SF-25’s twitchy balance in the wet—a thread Hamilton echoed.

“I struggled with the balance, but it was an important race for learning more about the car in different weather conditions, as well as gaining more experience working with a new team,” Hamilton said. “McLaren and Red Bull had serious pace, so there’s work to do, but we’ll dig deep. I’m looking forward to getting back in the car next weekend in China.” His debut, though point-scoring, laid bare the steep curve of adapting to Ferrari’s philosophy after 12 years at Mercedes.

Vasseur, too, saw glimmers amid the gloom: “As for positives from the weekend, we had strong pace on Friday in both qualifying and race trim, matching Mercedes and Red Bull, just a bit behind McLaren. It’s also good that in a few days we will be back on track, which means that very soon we will be able to evaluate our potential once again. It’s a very long season, and we just have to continue to work hard.” Friday’s dry running had hinted at competitiveness—Leclerc topping FP2, Hamilton fifth—but Sunday’s wet roulette exposed operational frailties.

Shanghai Looms as a Reset

Norris’ victory, Verstappen’s second, and Mercedes’ Russell and Kimi Antonelli in third and fourth highlighted the gap Ferrari must bridge. Williams’ Albon nabbed fifth, Sauber’s Hulkenberg seventh, and McLaren’s Piastri ninth after his off—proof that adaptability trumped raw speed in Melbourne’s mire. Ferrari’s five points paled against McLaren’s 27 and Mercedes’25, a stark tally for a team hyped as title contenders post-testing.

Tonight, Maranello’s engineers are poring over data, dissecting tyre calls and balance woes. Shanghai’s smoother asphalt and tighter layout, just seven days away, offer a swift chance to rebound. For Leclerc, it’s about erasing Turn 11’s ghost; for Hamilton, unlocking the SF-25’s secrets; for Vasseur, proving Ferrari’s mettle. “We didn’t capitalise on today,” Leclerc rued, but the season’s 24-race sprawl means Melbourne is merely a stumble—not a fall.