Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton says he wants “to understand” Mercedes’ engine advantage after his former team and title favourites swept to a front-row lockout at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Mercedes underlined their status as championship favourites from pre-season by dominating the year’s first qualifying session in Melbourne, with George Russell taking pole from Kimi Antonelli.
The Silver Arrows’ lap-time advantage over their nearest rival, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar in third, was a large margin of 0.785s while McLaren and Ferrari were both over eight tenths of a second off the pace.
F1’s short winter had been dominated by talk over compression ratio rules, amid suspicions from rivals that Mercedes had found a loophole in the regulations allowing them to run at a higher limit when cars are on track.
As part of F1’s sweeping new 2026 rules, a reduced compression limit of 16.0 is in place although it is currently only measured by the FIA when cars are not running at full temperature.
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Qualifying highlights of the Australian GP from Albert Park.
After weeks of claims and counter claims from the grid’s key players, F1’s governing body confirmed last week that a compromise solution had been found to satisfy all parties with a new test to come into force from June 1 – after the season’s seventh round as stands – to test compression limits when the engine ambient temperature is at 130 degrees.
After Melbourne qualifying on Saturday, Hamilton brought up the topic and claimed Mercedes’ advantage in each sector of the Albert Park lap was “two tenths or more just through power” – and he was keen to understand why exactly that was.
“What’s clear is they didn’t show their engine power through any of the practice [sessions],” said Hamilton, who qualified seventh amid energy-deployment issues from Ferrari’s unit, of his old team to Sky Sports F1.
“There’s a whole talk of compression ratios and they have done a solid job with their engine, which we have.
“I want to understand why it’s two tenths or more just through power, per sector.
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George Russell secured the opening pole position of the season in his Mercedes at the Australian Grand Prix.
“If it is a compression thing, I want to understand why the FIA haven’t done anything and what’s been done to rectify if.
“If it’s not, and it’s just pure power, we have to do a better job.”
Russell: New Mercedes chassis hasn’t been credited enough
Mercedes have consistently played down the topic of compression limits, with Toto Wolff describing the saga as “a storm in a teacup”.
The Mercedes team principal also said at the final Bahrain test last month: “It doesn’t change anything for us, whether we stay like this or whether we change to the new regulations.”
Speaking after qualifying, polesitter Russell said that while all the focus had been on their power unit in recent weeks, the W17 chassis was also clearly standing out too.
“I think we’ve got a really great engine beneath us,” said the polesitter.
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George Russell and his Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff were thrilled after securing a dominant pole in the season opener.
“However, I think we’ve also got a really amazing car beneath us, and I think that probably hasn’t been highlighted enough in the press these past few weeks.”
Hamilton still positive despite qualifying setback
In terms of his own qualifying session, Hamilton said he would have been fighting for the second row – where team-mate Charles Leclerc qualified, in fourth – had it not been for an energy deployment issue on his car after a promising Q1.
“Not the best qualifying but I felt solid all weekend,” said Hamilton.
“I’m feeling super motivated and up until Q1 on the medium tyre, I was feeling great. I was third or fourth just on the medium tyre.
“But when we got into Q2 we had some problems with the engine and deployment. It then threw a bunch of spanners in the mix, so we struggled to get the best out of it after that.
“If things hadn’t been an issue, we would have been third or fourth. I don’t think we would have been anywhere near Mercedes.”
Sky Sports F1’s Australian GP schedule
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As Formula 1 enters a new era, Tate McRae’s GRAMMY-nominated Just Keep Watching will become the new title track for Sky Sports’ F1 coverage this season and beyond
Saturday March 7
9.45pm: F3 Feature Race*
Sunday March 8
12.20am: F2 Feature Race*
2.30am: Australian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
4am: THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX*
6am: Australian GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
7am: Ted’s Notebook*
7.55am: Australian GP race replay*
10am: Australian GP highlights (also on Sky One)*
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Watch every race of the 2026 Formula 1 season live on Sky Sports, starting with the Australian Grand Prix from this Sunday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
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