At the end of a tense qualifying hour in Melbourne, Lewis Hamilton stood outside the Ferrari garage with more questions than answers. His first qualifying session of the 2026 season ended in seventh place after a power deployment problem on his car.
But Hamilton’s focus quickly shifted from his own setback to the striking pace of Mercedes at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion said Mercedes appeared to have a major power advantage at Albert Park Circuit. He questioned where that performance came from and whether it could relate to the winter debate about engine compression ratios.
Speaking to reporters after qualifying, Hamilton said Ferrari must understand the source of that speed quickly.
“They didn’t show that they could turn it up in testing, and now they’ve got this extra power from somewhere,” Hamilton said, according to RacingNews365. “We need to understand what that is.”
How Ferrari’s qualifying unfolded
Inside the Ferrari garage earlier in the afternoon, the mood looked calm and hopeful. Hamilton had entered qualifying saying the weekend felt strong. He said he was happy with the car and his work with the race engineer.
That confidence showed in Q1. Hamilton ran comfortably inside the top four on the medium tire and looked on pace for a front-row fight.
“I’m feeling super motivated,” Hamilton said after the session. “Up until Q1 on the medium tyre, I was feeling great. I was third or fourth just on the medium tyre.”
The session changed in Q2. Hamilton said an energy deployment issue affected the engine system and reduced power.
“But when we got into Q2, we had some problems with the engine and deployment,” he said. “It threw a bunch of spanners in the mix, so we struggled to get the best out of it after that.”
Ferrari briefly lost power on the medium tyre during the Q2 run. When the car returned to the track, Hamilton found himself behind traffic and struggled to keep tyre temperature in the right range.
“Then we just got out of sync,” he said. “We didn’t get great laps after that.”
The result was seventh place, nearly one second slower than the pole lap from George Russell in the Mercedes. Hamilton believed the car could have reached the second row without the issue.
“If things hadn’t been an issue, we would have been third or fourth,” he said. “I don’t think we would have been anywhere near Mercedes.”
On the other side of the garage, Charles Leclerc delivered a cleaner session. The Ferrari driver needed a second run in Q2 to set his best time but secured fourth on the grid.
Leclerc split the two McLaren cars and kept Ferrari near the front despite Hamilton’s setback.
Ferrari qualifying summary: 2026 Australian Grand Prix
| Driver | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Final position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Leclerc | Progressed | Progressed | 1:19.327 | P4 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Progressed | Disrupted (deployment issue) | 1:19.478 | P7 |
Lewis Hamilton talks about Mercedes’ advantage
Once the session ended, Hamilton turned his attention to Mercedes’ advantage. The team’s pace stood out across the Albert Park lap.
Mercedes finished nearly eight tenths ahead of the next fastest car, driven by Isack Hadjar for Red Bull Racing. Ferrari and McLaren both trailed by more than eight tenths of a second.
Hamilton said the gap appeared in every sector.
“It’s two tenths or more just through power,” he said.
His concern is linked to a winter debate over the new 2026 engine rules. Some teams suspected Mercedes could be running a higher compression ratio than allowed during normal track conditions.
Under the new rules, engines must run at a compression limit of 16.0. The FIA currently checks that limit when engines are not fully hot.
The FIA recently confirmed a new test method will start from June 1, after the seventh race of the season. The new check will measure compression when the engine temperature reaches 130 degrees.
Hamilton said the timing raised questions.
“If it is a compression thing, I want to understand why the FIA haven’t done anything and what’s been done to fix it,” he told Sky Sports F1. “If it’s not, and it’s just pure power, we have to do a better job.”
The seven-race delay also worries him.
“Seven races — a few months — you lose a lot of points when you’re a second behind in qualifying,” Hamilton said.
Despite the frustration, Hamilton said he still believes in Ferrari’s long-term plan. The team showed signs of speed during practice and early qualifying runs.
The larger issue now is the gap at the front. Whether it comes from engine power, chassis performance, or a grey area in the rules, Mercedes left Melbourne with a clear advantage. Hamilton and Ferrari know the next few races will decide how much ground they must recover.
