Hamilton Supports Ferrari: “In the Fight” with Mercedes in F1

MELBOURNE, Australia – Lewis Hamilton is optimistic about Ferrari’s performance, believing they are “in the fight” with Mercedes this year, despite his former team’s dominance at the Australian Grand Prix. Hamilton finished in fourth position, just behind his Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, while Mercedes achieved a one-two finish, securing the front row of the grid on Saturday. Ferrari forced Mercedes to work hard at the beginning, with Leclerc and Hamilton making quick starts, positioning themselves first and third respectively, flanking the eventual race winner, George Russell, during the first part of the race.

The team did a great job overall.

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton added that there were many positive aspects to highlight and that, with a couple more laps, he could have caught Charles, which shows that they can fight for podiums. He acknowledged that they are not as fast as Mercedes, but they are in the fight. “We have a lot of work to do to catch them, but it’s not impossible,” he stated.

Ferrari seemed to miss a strategic opportunity by not pitting during a virtual safety car period, unlike Russell and Kimi Antonelli, who did. The strategy has long been seen as Ferrari’s Achilles’ heel, and Hamilton pointed out the need to review whether a different decision could have been made. Hamilton expressed feeling good and satisfied with the third and fourth places obtained, although he acknowledged that Mercedes was faster. He considered that it was necessary to analyze whether a pit stop would have been more beneficial and suggested that they should have covered Mercedes with at least one of their cars. Hamilton was one of the few drivers to support the new rules after the first race. The F1’s shift towards a 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrification has placed a great emphasis on battery management and energy saving, something that is already unpopular among the drivers. Hamilton, known for his aversion to ground effect cars that F1 had between 2022 and 2025, praised the new rules on Sunday night.

Personally, I loved it. I thought the race was very fun to drive. I thought the car was really, really fun to drive.

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton added that he observed a good overtaking dynamic between the cars and that, so far, everything was going well.