Lewis Hamilton has declared he is fired-up and optimistic in his belief that Ferrari will be in the world championship fight with Mercedes after the new Formula One season opened in Australia on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The race in Melbourne was won by Mercedes\u2019 George Russell<\/a>, with his teammate Kimi Antonelli in second but Ferrari claimed third and fourth for Charles Leclerc and Hamilton. Both drivers executed superb starts<\/a> to make up places to first and third respectively and for the opening 12 laps were very much in the fight with Russell at the front of the field.<\/p>\n Ultimately they were not in the mix for the win after Mercedes took advantage of a virtual safety car to take a cheap pitstop while Ferrari<\/a> chose not to do so. Nonetheless the Ferrari did show impressive pace and a reinvigorated Hamilton maintained he felt the they could yet catch the leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cThe team did a great job overall,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are lots of positives to take. A couple of more laps and I would have had Charles, so I know we can be fighting for podiums. We\u2019re not as fast as Mercedes but we\u2019re right in the fight. We\u2019ve got a lot of work to do to catch them but it\u2019s not impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n After he endured a trying debut year with Ferrari Hamilton had closed 2025 somewhat jaded and disconsolate, having described it as a \u201cnightmare\u201d season in which he failed to score a podium for the first time in his career. Having reset over the winter Hamilton returned eager to enjoy the fray again<\/a> with the cars under the new regulations much more to his liking. In Melbourne they opened well and the seven-time champion also acknowledged that the team would analyse their strategic decision-making process.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel great,\u201d he said. \u201cWe got a third and fourth and ultimately Mercedes were quicker than us. We need to see if stopping would have been better. I definitely thought we should have come in or, at least one of us, to cover the Mercedes. We will look to see what we can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n Mercedes had expected to be the class of the field and duly did have the advantage when they were running in clean air but Hamilton\u2019s quickest 10 laps were on a par with Antonelli and the Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, confirmed the threat Ferrari posed.<\/p>\n George Russell and Lewis Hamilton on lap 44 on Sunday. Photograph: Jun Da Tan\/ABACA\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a three-way fight at a certain stage between the two Ferraris and George, and eventually Kimi caught up,\u201d Wolff said. \u201cThe race pace at the end was very encouraging from our side, but at the beginning, there was nothing between Ferrari and Mercedes. For me, the prevailing feeling is now we have a fight on our hands with Ferrari.\u201d<\/p>\n The Ferrari team principal, Fred Vasseur, also echoed Hamilton\u2019s feelings that his team could yet bridge the gap to Mercedes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s good to have two cars fighting at the top,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know that we have a very long list of improvements but it\u2019s good for us. The result of the season will be based on the capacity that we have to develop, to bring upgrades, to produce quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will be key for the season for everybody on the grid. I prefer to start the season in a good shape than in a bad shape, but it\u2019s still a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n