After Lewis Hamilton announced that he would be joining Ferrari for the 2025 Formula 1 season, people wondered how long it would be before he won with the new team. The answer: not long at all. In just his second weekend as a Ferrari driver, he managed to snag both the sprint pole and the sprint victory.

The Unexpected Pole Position

Ferrari did not look great during the Australian Grand Prix, and seemed to be lacking the pace all its fans were hoping to see on track. Although Fred Vasseur, the team principal, claimed that Australia was an outlier and that the SF-25 would be competitive on other tracks, many had already discounted Ferrari from the championship fight.

The Italian team began the sprint qualifying quite well but dropped in form during SQ2. Despite the drivers’ best efforts, neither Hamilton nor his teammate, Charles Leclerc, could produce times good enough for the front row. They were easily beaten by the McLarens and George Russell.

The tide changed in SQ3. Determined to prove that they should not be disregarded, both Hamilton and Leclerc put their all into the final session. Hamilton seemed to have gotten the hang of the car and soared through the field. A blisteringly fast lap of 1:30:849 put him on pole. Max Verstappen placed second, creating a top-two reminiscent of the fights fans had grown used to seeing in 2021. Leclerc found himself on the second row, set to start 4th, behind the McLaren of Oscar Piastri.

A Win To Remember

The sprint race was only 19 laps long and set to include no pit stops. Because of that, Hamilton needed the perfect strategy and the perfect execution if he wanted to add the full 8 points to his tally. It looked like Verstappen had a slightly better launch of the starting line, but the Ferrari driver managed to hold his lead throughout the first lap.

Then, the strategy came into play. Hamilton knew that tire degradation would play a great role on the track and used that knowledge to his advantage. After a few laps, he slowed down just enough to decrease the gap between himself and Verstappen, giving the Dutch driver an opportunity to push. This put a strain on the tires of his Red Bull. He did not manage to catch up to the Ferrari but did lose a significant amount of grip.

With Verstappen’s tires weakened, Piastri smelled an opportunity to attack him for P2. The two drivers spent the next few laps fighting. Once the McLaren found a way past the Red Bull, the gap to the Ferrari was too big to be bridged before the end of the sprint. Among the cheers of fans, Hamilton crossed the finish line and claimed his first victory for his new team. Leclerc ended up 5th, having lost a place to Russell.

End Of My Hamilton Rant

The win was a great boost to Hamilton’s confidence. Despite that, the main qualifying session of the weekend did not go quite as well for him as the one held on Friday. He will be starting the Chinese Grand Prix from P5, with his teammate right by his side.

Will he be able to get past the drivers in front and claim his second victory of the week? Fans have already seen what the SF-25 is capable of on that particular track. They know that it has the pace to fight with the McLarens, Red Bulls, and Mercedes. Now, everything is in the hands of Hamilton and Leclerc. Despite starting from the third row, they still have a chance to get the win.