FORMULA 1 F1 CALENDAR 2026 LEWIS HAMILTON MOTOGP RUMOURS

Lewis Hamilton fears Ferrari's 'huge gap' to Mercedes in one key area

Photo: Race Pictures

F1 News

08:00, 12 Mar

Updated: 09:11, 12 Mar

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byHenry Eccles

Lewis Hamilton has explained where Ferrari are currently falling behind to main rivals Mercedes in the opening stages of 2026, highlighting a "huge gap" between the teams both in qualifying and race pace.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton improved on a frustrating P7 qualifying finish to cross the chequered flag fourth in Melbourne, and threatened at one stage to enter the battle between teammate Leclerc and Russell for the lead.

Hamilton, notably more positive in 2026 than at any stage of last season, was arguably the faster of the two Ferraris, but pointed out on Thursday that there is still a lot of work to do to catch the Silver Arrows, who finished over 15 seconds ahead of Leclerc in P3.

Hamilton highlights where Mercedes have 'huge gap' on Ferrari

Photo: Race Pictures

Speaking to media in Shanghai, including GPblog, Hamilton was asked whether Mercedes' dominance was fundamental or possibly track dependent, with the Briton choosing to focus on his former team's straight line speed in particular.

"It seems mostly on straights, so I think it would be at the moment everywhere on the straights.

"It seems more so when they open up the SM. That's when they take a huge step. In that phase is an area we need to understand and then they seem to have a little bit more deployment. Yeah, so less derating at the end of straights than some of us.

"So we've just got to work on trying to see how we can eke out more from our engine."

Hamilton was then quizzed on the size of Mercedes' advantage, and if we could expect performances to converge within the opening races of 2026.

"I think it's really dependent on development. The development rate is pretty steep for everyone at the moment, so it’s going to be interesting to see who brings upgrades over these next races.

"I mean you saw in qualifying it was eight tenths or something like that in qualy, but in the race I think it was between 4 and 5 tenths when in clear air, which is a huge gap.

"So, yeah, so it's really going to be interesting to see the development. We're going to try and catch them up, and I believe we can, but I don't know, it's not going to be a sure thing."

Verstappen continues to mock F1 2026: 'Swapped my simulator for Nintendo Switch'

Elsewhere, Hamilton's old rival Verstappen continues to express his frustration with F1's new regulations.

On Thursday, Verstappen mocked the new rules by saying he is using Mario Kart on Nintendo Switch for racing preparation as opposed to simulator work.

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