Australian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes could win title in ‘a few months’

Lewis Hamilton suggests that his previous team, Mercedes, might establish an unassailable lead in this year’s Formula 1 world championship within just “a few months,” following George Russell’s dominant performance in Saturday’s inaugural qualifying session of the season.

Russell clinched pole position for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix, outpacing teammate Kimi Antonelli. He demonstrated a significant lead of 0.785 seconds over the closest non-Mercedes challenger, Isack Hadjar, and a substantial 0.960-second advantage over Hamilton’s Ferrari, which qualified seventh.

This outcome appeared to validate the deepest concerns of competing teams, who had suspected Mercedes of deliberately concealing its true performance during preseason testing to draw focus away from a dispute concerning its engine’s legality.

For several months, rival engine manufacturers have been urging the FIA to re-evaluate the method for measuring engine compression ratios. They suspect Mercedes has found a loophole, allowing them to meet the cold-temperature scrutiny requirements while subsequently boosting the ratio—and thus power output—when the engine reaches operating temperature on the track.

Before the season commenced, the FIA, F1, and all five engine suppliers reached a mutual agreement. This stipulated that the compression ratio would still be checked under ambient conditions for the entire season, but also measured at 130 degrees Celsius starting from the Monaco Grand Prix. The FIA also indicated that by 2027, the cold test would be abolished, and only hot measurements would be used.

Commenting on Mercedes’ display in Australia, Hamilton noted that a significant portion of Russell’s qualifying lead stemmed from enhanced straight-line power.

“It’s evident they didn’t reveal their engine’s full power during any of the testing, given the ongoing discussions around compression ratios. They’ve clearly done an excellent job with their engine, as have we,” Hamilton stated.

“However, I need to know why there’s a power advantage of 0.2 seconds or more per sector. If this relates to the compression issue, I want to understand the FIA’s inaction and what steps are being taken to correct it.”

“I truly hope this isn’t about the compression ratio; ideally, it’s just superior power, and we simply need to improve. But if it does come down to the compression issue, I’d be very let down that the FIA would permit such a situation—where it’s not strictly adhering to the rules—and I’ll be urging my own team to replicate it to gain more power from our engine.”

When confronted with the possibility that this advantage might only persist for the initial seven races leading up to the Monaco Grand Prix (or potentially two fewer if the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds are canceled due to regional conflict), the Ferrari driver contended that even this would suffice for Mercedes to establish a dominant championship lead.

“If they maintain that advantage for a few months, the season is effectively over,” he remarked. “Well, not completely over… but over seven races, a few months, you accumulate a significant points deficit when you’re a second slower.”

Broadening his comments to the 2026 regulatory changes, which have drawn criticism from several drivers across the grid, Hamilton asserted that the heightened focus on electrical energy management deviates from Formula 1’s core principles.

“The car itself is quite pleasant to drive; the issue is simply the power delivery,” he explained. “The electric power is strong when available, but its duration is insufficient.”

“We’re initiating the lap on half throttle through the final corner and for a quarter of the straight before finally going to full throttle. This entirely contradicts the essence of Formula 1 — maximum speed, relentless attack — yet we’re being forced to lift and coast and other such techniques.”

“That aspect is highly undesirable. And I don’t believe any of the drivers are particularly fond of it.”