Lewis Hamilton has been called out for having a 'dogmatic approach' on the Ferrari debut after toiling during Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.
The 40-year-old had gone into the event hoping to lay down a marker as he pursues a first title since 2020.
However, Hamilton could only finish 10th on a day where Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and George Russell all secured spots on the podium.
Now, former Williams manager Peter Windsor has reacted to the action.
Lewis Hamilton has been called out for having a 'dogmatic approach' on the Ferrari debut after toiling during Sunday's Australian Grand Prix
PA
The former F1 manager believes Hamilton's approach was all wrong on Sunday, with the veteran accused of being far too 'dogmatic'.
"There were a lot of weird radio transmissions going on with Ferrari, almost becoming uncomfortable with Charles Leclerc giving his engineer a hard time," he said on his YouTube channel.
"And they were giving Lewis a lot of instructions on how to get past Alex Albon, to do with the DRS and various switches. He kept saying, 'I can handle it, I can handle it'.
"Well, Lewis, you didn't handle it and you never got past Alex Albon.
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"For a Ferrari driver – admittedly in his first Grand Prix [with the team] – to be outraced by Alex Albon in the Williams is a bit embarrassing, to be honest.
"I was a bit surprised that Lewis was taking a rather dogmatic approach on the radio because I'm sure on the pitwall they were thinking, 'what's going on here, why can't he get past him?'"
While Hamilton finished 10th, Charles Leclerc also toiled.
The Ferrari was forced to settle for eighth.
Lewis Hamilton could only finish 10th at the Australian Grand Prix
REUTERS
Leclerc admitted after the race that it had been a 'tough' day for the team. The 27-year-old stated: "It was a tough race and there are things we have to review and work on.
"We weren’t the fastest out there but in such weather conditions, there was a chance of scoring some big points which we didn’t capitalise on today.
"There are two things we have to look into. The first is easy, it was my mistake.
"The second is something we will sort out as a team, looking into our decisions and making sure we make the right call if the situation comes up again."
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As for Hamilton, he said: "It was very tricky and went a lot worse than I thought it would go.
"The car was really, really hard to drive today.
"For me, I'm just grateful I kept it out of the wall because that's where it wanted to go most of the time.
"A lot to take from it and just getting acclimatised with the new power unit in the wet conditions.
Lewis Hamilton finished below Charles Leclerc at the Australian Grand Prix
REUTERS
"The settings it requires are different, and a different way of driving and a different set-up on the steering wheel.
"I hung out as long as I could, got in the lead at one point. Just the guidance with how much more rain was coming, was missing there, so I think we missed out."
