Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton reflected on the team’s pace after Friday’s practice sessions at the 2026 F1 Australian GP. Both drivers concluded the opening day at Albert Park as productive, although they acknowledged that Ferrari still has work to do to match their rivals.
Early indications, however, suggest that Mercedes may currently hold the advantage, particularly on race pace.
Ferrari understand where their weakness lies compared to Mercedes at the 2026 F1 Australian GP
Leclerc noted that the competitive picture became clearer during the second practice session when he P5, a place behind his stablemate. He had been fastest by a good chunk in FP1.
“FP1 was good. FP2 was… I think Mercedes is slowly showing a bit more of what they have. In FP2 we are starting to see where we are lacking compared to them. I think they are clearly very strong, especially in terms of race pace.”
Mercedes appeared particularly competitive over longer runs, according to Leclerc.
“I don’t know how much margin they still have on qualifying pace, but in the race pace they seem to be very strong compared to us.”
Set-up experiment proves challenging for Leclerc
During FP2, Ferrari experimented with a more aggressive set-up direction on Leclerc’s car. The change, however, did not deliver the desired results.
“In FP2 I tried something quite aggressive which didn’t work out, so I’ll be back tomorrow in a more reasonable window and we’ll see how it looks.”
Despite the setback, Leclerc stressed that Ferrari still has several areas to improve before the rest of the weekend.
“There is a lot of work, but I don’t really focus on that. We’ve got plenty of things to improve on our car.”
Hamilton pleased with productive first day at the 2026 Australian GP
Hamilton also reflected positively on Ferrari’s opening day of running in Melbourne. The seven-time world champion described Friday as a solid starting point for the weekend.
“It’s been a really good day. It’s great to be back on track and properly get going.”
The sessions were not without their challenges but Hamilton believes the team completed its planned program successfully.
“It was challenging at times on track, but we maximised our laps and executed to the best of our ability, getting some good information.”
Ferrari continue preparations for the weekend
Looking ahead to Saturday, Hamilton acknowledged that the team still has work to do to unlock more performance.
“Lots of work to do but I’m looking forward to getting back in the car tomorrow.”
Leclerc shared a similar view. He also admitted that Albert Park has historically been one of the more challenging circuits for him.
“There’s still some work to do. As I’ve always said, Melbourne and Shanghai are probably the two hardest tracks for me of the season and I always struggle quite a bit.”
Despite that difficulty, Leclerc sees the challenge as motivation.
“It’s a challenge, but it shouldn’t be an excuse. Actually, I enjoy that challenge and I will work hard in order to turn that situation around tomorrow.”
Competitive F1 order still unclear
With only the first day of practice complete, Leclerc cautioned that it remains difficult to fully understand the competitive order.
“It’s the first race of a completely new car, so there are lots of questions and marks.”
Based on the observations made, the Monegasque driver believes Mercedes may currently hold the advantage heading into the remainder of the weekend.
“I hope I’m wrong and that we are much faster tomorrow, but at the moment it seems to be Mercedes a step ahead and then Red Bull, McLaren and ourselves after.”
