Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari are “right in the fight” with Mercedes after an encouraging start to F1’s new era at the Australian Grand Prix.
Under pressure after a disappointing 2025 that left them fourth in the teams’ standings, Ferrari emerged as Mercedes’ biggest threat in Sunday’s season opener, taking third and fourth. Charles Leclerc jumped ahead of George Russell at the start and then engaged in a thrilling battle with the eventual race winner over the opening 10 laps, while Hamilton stayed close behind his team-mate throughout.
Ferrari’s race might have gone even better had they pitted a driver under an early Virtual Safety Car, but team principal Frederic Vasseur said the squad had “no regrets” about their strategy and were encouraged by the SF-26’s pace. Although Mercedes showed an early performance edge, particularly in qualifying, Hamilton believes Ferrari have reasons for optimism.
“I’m generally really proud of the team,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. “They have done an amazing job to get the car to where it is. Of course, we are not as fast at Mercedes and we have work to do but we are right in the fight.
“It was a really fun race and it felt good for me. A couple more laps and I would have had Charles, so I had great pace. Lots of positives to take from today.”
Hamilton qualified only seventh after Ferrari battery deployment issues in Q2 compromised his session but rose to the top three quickly on Sunday as Ferrari’s strong starts put their drivers into contention. The seven-time world champion, matching the best result of his 25-race Ferrari career so far with fourth, said qualifying “didn’t show the true pace” and credited the team with delivering a strong race performance despite earlier problems.
“We went into today and none of us really knew what the true pace would be but I felt great from the get-go,” he added. “There’s lots of positives but we have a lot of work to do to catch Mercedes but it’s not impossible. I believe we can close the gap. It’s not going to be easy, it’s got a lot of work to do because it’s quite significant, particularly on a single lap. We need to find out whether it’s power, or battery power, but the cars are just as quick through the corners so we need to keep pushing.”
Mercedes underlined their status as pre-season favourites by taking first and second in both qualifying and the race at Albert Park, but team principal Toto Wolff said the result showed his team are not alone at the front.
“When it comes to Ferrari, before the race, people were saying, ‘well, you’re going to disappear in the distance, we’re looking at your long runs’. And that wasn’t the case,” Wolff said. He noted Ferrari’s strong starts were decisive, describing an “out-and-out battle between Charles and George at the beginning” and acknowledging that a three-way fight developed between the two Ferraris and George, with Kimi also affected by battery issues to some degree.
“For me, the prevailing feeling is now we have a fight on our hands with Ferrari,” Wolff added. He welcomed the on-track competitiveness and the race’s entertainment value, saying the boost and overtake modes made for interesting racing on a track that is particularly demanding on energy management. “Most of all, there’s been a certain degree of contentment that Mercedes is back.”
Formula 1 now heads to Shanghai for the first Sprint weekend of the 2026 season at the Chinese Grand Prix from Friday, with live coverage on Sky Sports F1.