Lewis Hamilton claims Mercedes ‘party mode’ 2.0 explains qualifying dominance

Lewis Hamilton claims to know why Mercedes is proving so untouchable over one lap in F1 2026. According to Hamilton, “party mode” is back.

Hamilton alleged that his former team, Mercedes, taps into this apparent extra engine mode come Q2, and it leaves Ferrari powerless to compete with the Silver Arrows in qualifying trim. Mercedes has registered a front row lockout at every opportunity thus far in F1 2026.

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes qualifying ‘party mode’ explains early 2026 dominance

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After dominating qualifying in Melbourne, Mercedes did the same for the China Sprint, George Russell ahead of Kimi Antonelli.

Grand Prix qualifying in China swapped the Mercedes duo around, as Antonelli became the youngest polesitter in Formula 1 history. Russell ensured Mercedes’ 100 per cent record of front row lockouts, despite getting just one lap on the board right at the end of Q3, having briefly stopped out on track.

Ferrari has emerged as the closest rival to Mercedes. The gap between those teams over one lap is substantial, but in race trim, Ferrari grows much more competitive, as evidenced by the China Sprint, during which Hamilton and Charles Leclerc took the fight to Russell.

The new-for-F1 2026 engine rules were signed off back in 2022. At that point, Hamilton was a Mercedes driver.

The original ‘party mode’ ceased to be in 2020, when the FIA brought in a new ruling which mandated teams to use the same power unit mode for both qualifying and the race.

Speaking to media after the Sprint, Hamilton gave his explanation for why Mercedes is untouchable right now over one lap.

Antonelli’s 1:32.064 Chinese GP pole time was three and a half tenths up on Hamilton, who will start from third.

“I was with Mercedes for a long, long time, so I know how it works there,” Hamilton began.

“In qualifying, they have another mode that they’re able to go to, a bit like a ‘party mode’ back in the day, and once they get to Q2 they switch that on, and we don’t have that. So, whatever that is.

“And then in the race they obviously don’t have that mode, so they still obviously have an advantage overall.

“We’ve got to figure out what that is, but there’s something more they’re able to extract, particularly in Q2. You see in Q1 we’re not that far away, and then all of a sudden it’s like a huge step. A tenth in Q1 behind, I think it was, and then all of a sudden it’s seven tenths or another half a second. It’s a big step.”

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While Mercedes has emerged as the team to beat starting out in F1 2026, Hamilton finds himself in a positive state of mind, and is competitive on track, both statements which were not always true during his challenging first season with Ferrari.

Hamilton was asked how much nicer he finds this new generation of F1 car to drive, having struggled in the previous ground effect era.

“It feels, it’s just a much better car that we’ve designed and we’ve been a part of developing it, so definitely a lot happier in it.

“And of course I was in the lead [of the Sprint] at one point, so to finish third is not the greatest, but I will try harder again tomorrow.”

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