Lewis Hamilton expressed concern about the advantage Mercedes seems to have at the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season, following the qualifying session for the Australian GP in Melbourne. The Briton warned that if the dominance of the Brackley cars is confirmed, the championship battle could be compromised early on.
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George Russell took pole position in dominant fashion, while Red Bull Racing’s Isack Hadjar finished in P3, five-tenths behind second-placed Andrea Kimi Antonelli, demonstrating the pace difference shown by the Mercedes cars. Hamilton, who starts seventh, highlighted that he still doesn’t understand the origin of this ‘extra power’.
“I don’t exactly understand. They didn’t show they could extract that much performance in testing and now they have this extra power from somewhere. We need to understand what it is. I hope it’s not because of the compression ratio issue. I hope it’s simply pure power and we need to do a better job. But if it is the compression issue, I’ll be disappointed that the FIA allowed this to happen, that it’s not in accordance with the regulations. I’m going to push my team to look for more power as well,” Hamilton stated.
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The Ferrari driver also commented on the rule change scheduled for June, which will revise the measurement of the compression ratio, potentially reducing Mercedes’ advantage: “Then the season would be decided. Well, not fully decided, but seven races, a few months, you lose a lot of points when you are a second behind in qualifying,” the seven-time champion concluded.
Hamilton reinforced the warning that even with seven races remaining before the likely performance equalization, any significant difference at the start of the season could set the pace for the championship and pressure rivals to react quickly.
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