Qualifying Australia, Ferrari eight tenths behind Mercedes
The start of the 2026 World Cup reflects the fears that rivals of Mercedes they had up to the tests. The Brackley team has a considerable advantage, even greater than that seen in Bahrain: this is demonstrated by the first starting grid of the new era, which sees the W17 monopolizing the front row in Australia, with all rivals within eight tenths. Among these there is also the Ferrariwho finished fourth with Charles Leclerc and seventh with Lewis Hamilton. A result that naturally does not satisfy team principal Frederic Vasseur.
Vasseur’s words
“The first day of school was chaotic, the session was difficult. We made some mistakes, but it’s a shame, because I think there was room to get to third place. Mercedes was on another planet today, we will have to make steps forward to fight with them“, this is the comment of the Frenchman a Sky Sports F1. “Honestly, the session was chaos for us and for everyone, and we will have to be really on our toes tomorrow: if we look at the amount of problems that all the teams had, the GP could be quite chaotic. What if the Mercedes advantage comes more from the power unit? Sometimes you have to make a compromise on the engine in favor of the chassis, so this type of split cannot be made. Certainly if we look at top speed they have a decent advantage on the straightsBut let’s focus on ourselves. The key is to try and do the best we can. We are only at the first phase of this new regulation, we must continue to push and work as a team“.
Ferrari, at least for the start of the GP, is focusing on the start, an aspect in which it has shown it can make a difference. The five seconds of pre-start However, to increase the speed of the turbos they can change the picture: “The departure will be another challenge, so far all cars with the new procedure can start wellbut for everyone the window is rather narrow, so we will have to do a good job to have a good start and recover positions“.
Particularly disappointing was Hamilton’s seventh position, on the fourth row and ahead of only the Racing Bulls among the cars that took part in Q3: “Lewis struggled to find tire temperature on the final lapit was much colder than yesterday. It was really on the border between a preparation lap and a hard lap. It’s very connected to what you do in the first corner, because if you don’t have consistency you lose a lot“.
