Where is Ferrari losing out to Mercedes? Hamilton details 0.5s per lap deficit
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are in their second season as Ferrari teammates
Lewis Hamilton has admitted that Ferrari is unlikely to catch Mercedes in the short term in F1 2026, estimating a half-a-second-per-lap deficit in race trim.
And he believes that Mercedes’ advantage is “mostly” on the straights, with the W17s of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli taking “a huge step” when active aero is deployed.
Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc admit Ferrari not at Mercedes level
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Mercedes lived up to its status as the team to beat in F1 2026 at last weekend’s season opener in Australia, where George Russell and Kimi Antonelli secured a one-two finish.
Russell’s lap for pole position was almost 0.8 seconds faster than the best non-Mercedes car, Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull, in qualifying.
Ferrari emerged as Mercedes’ biggest threat in Melbourne as Charles Leclerc eventually came home third after battling with Russell for the lead in the early laps.
Hamilton, meanwhile, equalled his best result as a Ferrari driver by crossing the line in fourth place.
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However, Hamilton conceded that catching Mercedes won’t be a “short” process, estimating that the W17 has a half-a-second-per-lap advantage in race trim at this stage of the season.
Asked about Ferrari’s hopes of catching Mercedes, he told media in Shanghai: “I think it’s really dependent on development.
“The development rate is pretty steep for everyone at the moment, so it’s going to be interesting to see who brings upgrades over these next races.
“They do have a big [advantage] – you saw in qualifying, it was eight tenths or something like that.
“In the race, I think it was between four and five tenths when they’re in clear air, which is a huge gap.
“So it’s really going to be interesting to see the development. We’re going to try and catch them up and I believe we can, but I don’t know.
“It’s not going to be a short thing.”
Hamilton admitted that Ferrari needs to “understand” Mercedes’ advantage on the straights when active aero is used, with the W17 also holding an edge in terms of energy management.
Asked how Mercedes’ pace advantage is manifesting itself on the track, he explained: “It seems mostly on straight, so I think it would be at the moment everywhere on the straights.
“It seems more so when they open up the ESM – that’s when they take a huge step, so whatever’s going in that phase is an area we need to understand.
“They seem to have a little bit more deployment, so less de-rating at the end of the straights than some of us.
“So we’ve just got to work on trying to see how we can eke out more from our engine.”
Leclerc echoed Hamilton’s assessment by conceding that Ferrari is “definitely not” at the same level of Mercedes.
However, he hinted that Ferrari could be closer on pace to its rivals in China having left “quite a bit of lap time” on the table in qualifying in Australia.
Asked if Shanghai could present a different picture due to the contrasting energy demands, Leclerc said: “I think so, but I think the picture will stay relatively the same.
“In qualifying, I don’t expect us to be at the level just yet.
“For sure, we’ll be closer because in Melbourne we did many things that we haven’t optimised and there was quite a bit of lap time in that, but we are definitely not on their level.
“In the race, I think it will be closer.
“Then to have a good prediction at this time of the year with a relatively small amount of knowledge on their car, etc, we start to understand what effect is caused by what, on what we see on the race traces of Mercedes in qualifying.
“When you look also between cars, it’s not like last year where you could very easily understand this car has a big advantage.
“You look between George and Kimi in qualifying and there’s three tenths between the cars [in qualifying].
“So there’s a lot in the driving style. There are many, many more things to analyse and it takes time.
“So I don’t think we are confident yet to understand the way it goes from track to track.”
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