Vasseur ‘very pleased’ with Hamilton’s performance in Melbourne – ‘It's good to have two cars at the front'

Charles Leclerc might have been the Ferrari driver stood on the rostrum at the Australian Grand Prix, but team boss Fred Vasseur was just as impressed with the performance of Lewis Hamilton in the opening weekend of the season.

Hamilton finished fourth in Melbourne, having qualified seventh. Saturday was perhaps something of a disappointment considering he had been pushing Leclerc all weekend, and in fact been the faster of the duo at times, but the seven-time World Champion more than made up for Saturday’s Qualifying result with an electric start on Sunday.

Indeed, had he not run out of track and been somewhat boxed in behind George Russell, Hamilton might have wound up behind Leclerc in P2 after Turn 1. Instead he ran third for much of the race, losing out to Kimi Antonelli on strategy to come home fourth after running out of time to challnege his team mate for that final podium spot.

“I'm very pleased with the performance of Lewis over the weekend. But I think we have to stop to say[ing] one weekend he's there, one weekend he's not there,” said Vasseur afterwards.

“It's a sport, sometimes we are doing a good session, sometimes not. Yesterday, the quali, honestly, as a team, I was disappointed. Today it was much better… It's part of the game.”

Hamilton’s debut season with Ferrari featured one early standout performance when he took pole and then the win in the Sprint in China last year. But after that he struggled to keep to the pace of Leclerc – especially over one lap.

The Monegasque racer finished the season with a handful of podiums, but Hamilton never managed to score a top three Grand Prix finish. It was a chastening season for Hamilton, who regularly berated himself over his own performances on both the radio, and to the media after certain races.

But he has cut a much happier figure in the paddock so far in 2026, stating that he is in “the best place” he has been for a long time on the eve of the season. And it certainly looks like the new generation of cars suit his driving style more than the ground effect era ever did.

“It's good to have two cars fighting also at the top," added Vasseur. "We know that we have a very long list of improvements. It's true for us, but it's true for everybody on the grid."

“But we have to work all together, to push all together. We know that we have tonnes of things to improve: the strategy, the engine, the chassis, the tyres, everything.”

With so much to focus on in terms of car development, having two happy drivers will surely be a weight off for Vasseur, as Ferrari set about trying to challenge the might of Mercedes for the championships.