‘Never say never’ – Hamilton aims to ‘give it everything’ for a Ferrari pole on debut in Australia

Lewis Hamilton has teased fans to “never say never” as he aims for a debut Ferrari pole at the Australian Grand Prix.

Hamilton has scored 104 pole positions in his record-breaking F1 career to date, but his excitement for a possible first front-of-the-grid start for Ferrari is evident. The seven-time champion ended Friday practice in fifth, 0.420s off the pace of his session-topping team mate, Charles Leclerc.

REPORT: Leclerc sets the pace ahead of Piastri and Norris during second practice in Australia

Asked if he could begin to dream of a first Ferrari pole, Hamilton conceded: “For me, I think it’s a little bit early as I just continue to get to learn the car, but never say never. I’ll still give it everything I’ve got tomorrow.

“I’m just not putting too much pressure on. I’m going to try to enjoy it. I’ve got some pace to find. I know where to find it. It’s just about going out there and doing it and just building.”

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With only a day and a half of running in the 2025 Ferrari before taking to the track in Australia, Hamilton is yet to get fully up to speed with his new surroundings.

He said: “P1 was a little bit messy. P2 was definitely starting to look a little bit better.

“Also, I’m still getting used to all of the setup changes. I don’t have them on call like I used to have with Mercedes.

“Where I’d been there so long, I knew exactly all the setup changes, so I’m still working through understanding what tools we can use, and it’s interesting you can see with Charles, he just knows because he’s been here for such a long time.”

The battle at the front is expected to be fierce this year, with Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari all predicted to be in the hunt for wins, podiums and pole positions.

FP2 Highlights: 2025 Australian Grand Prix

With so many potential rivals, Leclerc refused to stake an early claim to the foremost grid slot.

“I want to be cautious; let’s wait and see,” he said. “But it’s right to say that after a day like this, we are looking forward to tomorrow and we want to target pole position.”

Asked if McLaren posed the only threat to Ferrari this weekend, Leclerc added: “For now, it is too early to say. I don’t think we’ve seen the real pace of everybody yet and I think some teams might hide their game a bit more than others.

«But for sure, McLaren is up there. I think Red Bull might be struggling a little bit more for now, but you never know with them, and especially with Max, you can never rule them out. For sure, they will be in the fight.

“Mercedes look strong as well, so it is going to be a good fight, I’m sure.”