Australian GP: Seven-Time Champ To Start From P7! Hamilton Eyes Improvement After Weak Ferrari Debut Season

Last Updated:March 07, 2026, 14:34 IST

Hamilton, who had to endure a winless 2025 campaign, will begin the upcoming season from seventh on the grid, while teammate, Charles Leclerc will start from P4.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton expressed his disappointment after finishing seventh in Saturday’s Australian Grand Prix qualifying. Despite showing speed throughout the weekend in his Ferrari, he was unable to secure a better grid position for Sunday’s season opener in Melbourne.

Hamilton’s teammate, Charles Leclerc, performed better, securing fourth place behind the dominant Mercedes polesitter George Russell. However, Leclerc also felt it was an underachievement.

“Today’s result is not where we wanted or expected to be, mainly because we lost execution at an important stage of qualifying," said Hamilton.

“However, the car felt solid and there is clearly more potential than the final position suggests.

“Now it’s about understanding the issues, staying composed and making the most of tomorrow."

“There were some challenges today, as expected for the first qualifying in these new cars," he said, with all cars on the grid grappling with new engine and chassis rules.

“It’s difficult to make any predictions for now. It’s the first race weekend of a new regulatory cycle and a championship that will be won by development.

“We are very focused on that and will extract everything we have from our current package. It will be interesting to see how all the teams will manage the race tomorrow."

Team chief Fred Vasseur shared in the frustration but remained optimistic, noting their good pace and expressing high hopes for Sunday’s race.

“You can do as much testing as you like, but it is never the same as tackling a real qualifying session with all the other cars around you," he said.

“It was a new challenge and we did not manage to put everything together as we had a few issues during the session.

“The most important thing is to learn from what we did not do well today and focus on tomorrow’s race."

News sports formula-one Australian GP: Seven-Time Champ To Start From P7! Hamilton Eyes Improvement After Weak Ferrari Debut Season

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