Disappointing qualifying for the Ferrari driver
Lewis Hamilton had also confirmed in FP3 that he was particularly ‘on it’ this weekend in Australia, but in Qualifying, problems occurred that put the Ferrari drivers in difficulty.
Read more Russell: “I expected pole, but not this advantage. I still have concerns about reliability”
The battery experienced some issues and especially in Q2 the SF-26s lost a lot of ground in T2, managing to solve the problem at the end of Q2 with Leclerc who at that moment was able to set the second fastest time, four tenths behind George Russell.
In Q3 the reds did not go beyond the fourth fastest time with Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton placed in seventh position less than two tenths behind Isack Hadjar who ‘won’ the comparison among the other big names not behind the wheel of a Mercedes.
Read more Red Bull surprise, the star is Hadjar: “I didn’t expect third place. But Mercedes is too strong”
There is something wrong with the #Ferrari PUs in this Q2. #Leclerc did his lap with a very weak mode, #Hamilton for the second time in a row comes out of 6 and then doesn’t go anymore despite trying to accelerate. Let’s see if they fix it #AustralianGP pic.twitter.com/UpwiN3HYYC
— Federico Albano (@Fred__18) March 7, 2026
Hamilton did not hide his disappointment at the end of Qualifying, also thinking about a race where overtaking will not be easy at all: “In Q1 I looked very strong, I was in a great position, but then in Q2 I lost power – Hamilton told Sky Sport – we lost the rhythm and we were no longer able to find our comfort zone. There is definitely much more potential in the car, we could have certainly finished third or fourth. Today the most difficult thing for us was managing the battery energy, we had some problems. The race is a total unknown, overtaking will be worse than usual and I really don’t know what to expect. Will I make up positions at the start? I hope so, we’ll see.”
