Lewis Hamilton said his victory in the sprint race in Shanghai was the perfect response to those who criticised his performance on his Ferrari debut last week.
He finished 10th on his debut for Ferrari in Melbourne, the worst start for a newcomer at the team in 16 years. He rebounded in style in Shanghai, claiming pole position for the sprint race and leading every lap to take his first victory in the format.Criticism of Hamilton’s performance in Melbourne focused on his radio exchanges with race engineer Riccardo Adami, a small portion of which was played on the world television feed. Hamilton said earlier in the weekend he was surprised by the “negativity” in response to their communications.
“The first race was difficult,” he acknowledged. “I really do feel a lot of people underestimated the steep climb it is to get into a new team, to become acclimatised within a team, understanding and communication and all sorts of things.
“The amount of critics and people I’ve heard yapping along the way, just clearly not understanding maybe because they never had the experience or are just unaware. So it felt great to come here and feel more comfortable in the car.
“In Melbourne I really didn’t feel comfortable in the car. From lap one here this weekend [I was] really feeling on it. We’ve done a great job, the engineers have done a great job, mechanics have done a great job to really fine-tune the car and it felt great today.”
Hamilton said former drivers who have been critical of him don’t know what happens within his team.
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“I’m not really talking back to them or anything like that,” he said in the FIA press conference. “It’s just that we live in such a strange time in the world. People just love to be negative at any opportunity, even with the smallest things, they’ll just be negative about it.
“I think that’s just the difficult time that we’re living in. I see certain individuals – and again, I don’t read the news, but I see bits here and there – see people that I’ve admired for years just talking out of turn. Clearly some of them really just making uneducated guesses of what’s going on. Like I was just saying, just a real lack of appreciation.
“It’s not easy moving to a new team that works completely differently, [has] completely different characteristic of car. You don’t just jump in and it’s good.
“If you look at Seb [Vettel], you look at Fernando [Alonso], they did a great job when they joined the team in their early phases, but to build long-term success with the team takes time. And that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m not trying to jump-start it, get ahead of myself. I’m just taking my time to build with this great team.”
The race was dominated by tyre management and several drivers encountered problems with graining. Hamilton’s race engineer Riccardo Adami praised his performance in looking after his rubber, which was aided by him running in clear air all race.
“I got a good start,” he said. “There’s so much grip on this new Tarmac, it’s really hard to look after these tyres, but I think everyone was struggling the same.”
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Despite his early success, Hamilton said Ferrari must not get too excited about their potential for the season ahead.
“I said the other day, Rome wasn’t built in one day. One step at a time. We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. We cannot.
“We’ve got to continue to push. We’ve got to be diligent and just remain focused, stay calm. Most importantly, stay calm, because these moments get us all excited.
“We’ll be back at our desks after this and focused on qualifying this afternoon. It’s a long, long way. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, so we’ve just got to take our time.”
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ppzzus (@ppzzus)
22nd March 2025, 5:02
He’s really the LeBron of F1.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd March 2025, 5:09
@ppzzus In what way? (What I know about basketball wouldn’t fill the back of a postage stamp).
ppzzus (@ppzzus)
22nd March 2025, 5:16
I’m new to the NBA so I’m not the best to ask. For starters they are the same age. Started their career with massive pressure, but delivered. You can look almost any record for either and they’d be at the top. Some records are 3x or or 5x the next closest. LeBron is single handedly carrying the NBA at 40.
Edvaldo
22nd March 2025, 5:37
Yeah, i can tell you just began with NBA.
Hamilton and LeBron are the biggest stars, but they are not the only ones and even less they are carrying anything. That’s just fan talk.
ppzzus (@ppzzus)
22nd March 2025, 5:58
NBA numbers are taking hard. I genuinely fear how low it would go without LeBron.
Edvaldo
22nd March 2025, 13:43
It is tanking hard because the playing is dull, the players are soft and divas, and miss games without being hurt, including Lebron.
DaveW (@dmw)
22nd March 2025, 14:17
Now that we have added a sport to the coverage here lol I might suggest it’s an interesting comparison. NBA changed their rules to make defense basically illegal and loosen up offensive rules to the point where dribbling the ball seems optional. Sound familiar? DRS? They did this to create scoring and excitement. But now you have highlight inflation. And with a lack of personalities like Jordan Iverson Rodman etc even in this social media age NBA lacks appeal from casuals. F1 is similar. The Hamilton v Versrappen story line can’t be repeated with any other driver pair. There are just not the superstars and the circumstances to make that happen in the support. Which is why Hamilton in red fighting Versrappen is making people twitch now.
Scribe (@scribe)
22nd March 2025, 7:40
So, not comparable sports at all, like at all but there is one striking similarity between LeBron and Hamilton.
They were incredibly hyped prospects that ended up someone how totally surpassing the unrealistic expectations laid out for them. That and the longevity.
ppzzus (@ppzzus)
22nd March 2025, 23:54
Absolutely
James Fuller
22nd March 2025, 5:33
Taking nothing away from Lewis, but I think more attention should go to the positive influence of Fred Vasseur. The fortunes of Ferrari seems to me to have changed since he replaced Binotto.
Sham (@sham)
22nd March 2025, 6:30
I admire Lewis having the self belief to go up against LeClerc at Ferrari – he’s been there a long time and is blisteringly quick.
If he beats Charles over his first season at the team, that will be mightily impressive for me. It’s very early days, but the signs are good that his recent struggles are mostly being unable to adapt to the poor Mercedes car over the last 3 seasons.
It’s good to see him so positive again, and I feel like the sport needs a feel good story – the only stories over the last few years have been controversy and political.
Actually, I feel that the world needs a feel good story – there is so much negativity in every aspect of life right now.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
22nd March 2025, 10:39
Well said. I agree.
MurasamaRA300 (@murasamara300)
22nd March 2025, 17:12
+1, also agree.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd March 2025, 23:52
Take away LeClerc admittedly blistering single lap pace and hence excellence at qualifying and I think you end up with a disappointing, relative to the others, Sunday driver.
His radio messages where he was shocked he was losing grip, defied logic. I mean, he’s been around long enough now – what did he expect?
SteveP
22nd March 2025, 8:00
I see that as more of a condemnation of Binotto than the positives for Vasseur.
Binotto as a tech talent is notable*, but by no measure is he a TP.
* His time at Ferrari demonstrated talent for clever tech, of dubious legality (at best) which is +/-
fawkes
22nd March 2025, 7:35
I’m a Hamilton fan since GP2 and what he did today is amazing. People seem to like to watch the story of the old champion fading away or being revealed as a farce. But people also seem to forget what Hamilton has achieved, often assuming his success was purely down to luck/car related. But there’s also an undeniable appeal to support the old champions narrative. We need this! Hamilton is a force of nature, though. It’s like Balboa fighting in the end of his career, or Tyson doing it in real life.
Not a Ferrari fan, never was, never will be. But super happy for him. Get in there, Lewis!
Michael A.
22nd March 2025, 7:48
For goodness’ sake, it was only a sprint thing.
SteveP
22nd March 2025, 8:16
Started 1st, finished 1st, never troubled by anyone. Verstappen used him for a DRS boost to stay in 2nd, for most of the event.
Something of a surprise, for Ferrari, on the tyre management. It seems they haven’t seen anyone able to look after their tyres like that previously.
Another example of what others haven’t done quite right, rather than any mastery by Lewis.
“One step at a time”
MichaelN
22nd March 2025, 9:16
Leclerc did so expertly just last year at Monza while McLaren chewed through theirs. Vettel also won a couple of good races vs. Mercedes and Hamilton by being better on the tyres. Bahrain in 2018 comes to mind as one particularly impressive one.
That’s not to take anything away from Hamilton, who did a good job, but a sprint win is perhaps a bit too low a bar for a champion like him. Most drivers did just fine, after all. I look forward to seeing him win a GP soon enough!
André
22nd March 2025, 14:25
For the detractors, no amount of evidence will ever be sufficient.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd March 2025, 23:54
Hamilton, after been WUMed back in 2007 and 2008 as someone who would never survive, once refueling went – due to his poor tyre management has been the best ‘tyre manager’ since Button retired.
Ajaxn
22nd March 2025, 10:22
It’s the sprints, but they are all trying to avoid crashes or over-stressing their engines, so it’s a managed sprint.
Well done Ferrari but now for the serious stuff.