“How did you not call the pit?” Ups and downs in Hamilton’s first race with new engineer

Lewis Hamilton was less accepting of Ferrari’s decision not to risk pitting during a Virtual Safety Car period than his team mate Charles Leclerc.

After he took the chequered flag, Hamilton’s new race engineer Carlos Santi admitted the decision not to pit cost them much of the time to race-winner George Russell.

But Hamilton had plenty to be positive about after his first race in Ferrari’s latest car with a new voice in his ear. His pace at the end of the race was particularly strong.

Lewis Hamilton’s 2026 Australian Grand Prix radio transcript

“No deployment”
“At least one of us should have come in”
“How did you not call the pit, man?”
“I’m not pitting this lap”
“Have I lost positions to people?”
“You are again the fastest car on track”
“Leave me to it mate”
“Basically, it’s the pit stop”

“No deployment”

In common with many other drivers, Hamilton found himself short of battery power at the start of the race. He also suspected he’d picked up contact in collision with Liam Lawson, whom he’d mistaken for the other Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad.

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“At least one of us should have come in”

When the first Virtual Safety Car period began, Leclerc was leading Russell, Hamilton and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. While Mercedes immediately pounced on the opportunity to bring both drivers in, Ferrari left both out, a call Hamilton disagreed with.

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“How did you not call the pit, man?”

The second VSC period did not fall well for Ferrari. Hamilton was told the VSC had been triggered around the time he was passing the pit lane entrance, and by the time he came around again the entrance was closed.

However the opportunity to anticipate the VSC call existed. Ferrari could have seen that Valtteri Bottas’s Cadillac was stopped by the pit lane entrance and would have needed some kind of intervention to retrieve it. Whether they would have saved as much time as those who were able to pit in the gap between the VSC being deployed and the pit entrance being closed – such as Max Verstappen – would have been in the lap of the gods.

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“I’m not pitting this lap”

After Leclerc pitted under green flag running, Hamilton tried to delay his pit stop for as long as possible, either in the hope another VSC period would occur or at least to create a greater difference in tyre life to use later in the race. They eventually brought him in three laps after Leclerc.

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“Have I lost positions to people?”

After another, very brief VSC period, Hamilton began to gain time on those ahead of him.

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“You are again the fastest car on track”

The final part of Hamilton’s race was very strong. Though it’s highly likely Russell was moderating his pace at the front of the field, Hamilton gained rapidly on Leclerc with only slightly fresher tyres.

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“Leave me to it mate”

Hamilton almost drew within range of Leclerc, crossing the line less than a second behind his team mate.

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“Basically, it’s the pit stop”

Although he narrowly failed to take his first podium finish for Ferrari, Hamilton was clearly satisfied with how his season started. Aside from the nagging problem of the pit stop strategy, which Santi conceded was responsible for most of his deficit to Russell.

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2026 Australian Grand Prix

• Hadjar told Red Bull his car’s performance was “embarrassing” and “just c***”
• “How did you not call the pit?” Ups and downs in Hamilton’s first race with new engineer
• Ocon says “we seem to have different cars” at Haas after slipping out of points
• “Deployment s*** itself again”: Why Verstappen’s Australian GP was so frustrating
• 2026 Australian Grand Prix interactive data: lap charts, times and tyres

Browse all 2026 Australian Grand Prix articles