McLaren tried its best, but it was a battle it was never going to win.
Formula 1’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix provided the perfect location to confirm a new contract extension for Oscar Piastri, fresh from a year when he had helped the team to a constructors’ championship title and taken the first two victories of his Formula 1 career.
Heading into his home race weekend with a car that is expected to at least be a victory contender, Piastri could try and stake a claim at being the biggest show in town. But at the start of this year everyone is going up against two absolute powerhouses, and the novelty certainly hasn’t worn off over the opening few months.
Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari continues to capture the imagination, but not just for the potential of what the two can achieve together. Separate to the team, Hamilton remains in a remarkably positive frame of mind, as if he’s had a new lease of life following his move from Mercedes.
“I’m very, very fortunate,” he said on his first day as a Ferrari driver at a grand prix in Melbourne. “I’ve had this amazing career here in Formula 1. Starting with McLaren here in 2007 was an epic feeling. And then starting with a new team again with Mercedes was, again, incredible.
“I think this is very reminiscent of my first year. Over the years, I’ve gone up and down the paddock looking at the red garage, and now I’m actually in the red garage. So it’s a really nice feeling.
“I’m itching to get going. It’s been a long time coming, and to think that this is going to be my first grand prix — one of those other firsts with the team — as I experience that all through the year, it’s pretty special. I feel very honored and very grateful to have the opportunity.”
Piastri had spoken to the media just before Hamilton, and as you would expect he received significant interest, but it’s all relative when you zoom out from the confines of the Albert Park paddock.
As one example, Hamilton’s ability to transcend the sport sees him boast more than 10 times the Instagram followers of Piastri — 39.1 million to 3.2m — and that means a video posted on Thursday morning of him acting in an iconic scene from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” received over 700,000 likes and was shared more than 100,000 times, or 50x more than the news of Piastri’s new deal (that also had McLaren’s account behind it).
That also doesn’t take into account Hamilton’s newly launched TikTok account that generated nearly half a million further likes on the video.
Hamilton captioned the post by saying the point of the video was “to pay homage to the iconic film and to celebrate my first season with Ferrari,” adding “This is the energy and excitement I’m bringing to the track this year. ANDIAMO!!”
He hasn’t even driven the car during a race weekend yet, but he’s definitely delivering on that promise of energy so far. The contrast to the past few years is remarkable.
And don’t think that’s because Mercedes was creating a bad environment. There was a similar spring in the step of Hamilton’s former team as the new season kicked off, as it held what used to be its traditional season-opening media breakfast on St. Kilda Beach.
Good coffee and food are always going to put the press in a good mood, but Kimi Antonelli’s infectious excitement — including a revelation of a family nickname of “Andy” — is also matching up well with a team committing to its own new fresh start. One that even Hamilton is enjoying watching.
The new and former Mercedes drivers enjoy a light moment at the media conference. Sam Bagnall/Getty Images
“The first reason I was smiling was just looking at this youngster here,” Hamilton said, sitting next to Antonelli later in the day. “I’m happy for him — he’s doing so well and conducting himself so well.
“Taking that first leap, getting that first opportunity to be in Formula 1, it’s so, so special. I know how many years of dedication it would have taken for him, starting even younger than I did. It’s just exciting to see.”
There was a quiet confidence within the Mercedes ranks, too, that it has gone under the radar so far, precisely because of the amount of storylines surrounding its rivals. Hamilton/Ferrari overshadows them all, but Thursday also saw McLaren receive regular probing about the pace of its car and status as championship favorite, while Max Verstappen and Red Bull similarly fielded questions about whether they can challenge for wins.
Verstappen says it will be a tall order to be in the mix for victory this weekend, although he enjoyed a positive day in the simulator ahead of the trip to Melbourne, but for everyone it will be even tougher to outshine Hamilton’s first race in red.
That doesn’t mean the 40-year-old is feeling under unfair scrutiny, though. Even if the focus will truly switch to the analysis of his performance from Friday onwards.
“I don’t really approach this role with pressure,” he said. “I think over the years, the pressure I put on myself has always been 10 times higher than any other pressure that could be put upon me. I haven’t joined this team and been made to feel any pressure. I have an expectation for myself — I know what I can bring, I know what I can deliver, and I know what it’s going to take. It’s just about getting my head down and working away.
“I come with a very open mind, coming into this weekend. It’s about getting into a good rhythm. I’m still learning this new car that’s quite a lot different from what I’ve driven my whole career, in the sense of the Mercedes power coming to the Ferrari power, it’s something quite new — different vibration, different feel, different way of working. The whole team works completely differently.
“I was just sitting looking at last year’s race traces and it’s upside down compared to the previous ones, what I’ve been used to. I don’t understand it all. You’re looking at things from a different perspective and that makes it exciting and challenging.
“This is definitely the most exciting period of my life. I’m really enjoying it, and I’m so excited to get in the car tomorrow.”
There’s just a few million people excited to see that too.
