Lewis Hamilton’s inevitable next step – Toto Wolff’s face said it all | F1 | Sport

Pre-season testing in Formula 1 is always an enigma. Most paddock people – and the bookies – fancied Mercedes and George Russell heading into this new season, but nobody knew for sure who would come to the fore in F1’s new era. But we do now, and the jig was up in qualifying.

Toto Wolff‘s relaxed and slightly smug look told us all we needed to know without even looking at the timesheets. Mercedes are back and, in Russell, they have the right man behind the wheel to propel them right back onto their perch. Having frustratingly joined Mercedes in 2022, just as their eight-year run of dominance came to an end, he has had to wait very patiently for a shot at title glory.

Russell will surely get one this year, after a pole lap that blew away the competition before a largely serene Sunday drive to victory – once he’d dispatched the Ferraris. Because even though Mercedes are the clear class of the field in 2026, Ferrari look like, for once, they may not flatter to deceive again this year.

The pre-season optimism coming out of Maranello seems justified and those lighting starts off the line look to be a huge weapon. Charles Leclerc flew into the lead on the opening lap while Lewis Hamilton was propelled from sixth on the grid to third by Ferrari’s quick-firing new engine. A duel for the lead ensured between Leclerc and Russell, the key battle in what was overall a truly entertaining Grand Prix, despite mostly gloomy predictions for the state of racing with these new cars.

Many drivers don’t like how much electrical energy management they have to do now, but there’s no denying it makes for an intriguing tactical battle when two cars engage in a dogfight. Russell and Leclerc traded places several times and it was a real shame when, on lap 12, Isack Hadjar pulled over and his stricken and smoking Red Bull caused a virtual safety car.

Because Russell dove into the pits while Ferrari chose to leave both cars out assuming Mercedes would have to stop again. They were wrong – Leclerc and Hamilton led the race for some time but, when they eventually changed tyres, Russell was back in front and neither he nor Kimi Antonelli in the other W17 could be caught.

It was a comfortable win, but not one which will have caused alarm bells for F1 chiefs. We’ve seen much bigger margins of victory than the 15 seconds between Russell and Leclerc in third by the end. And Hamilton, despite finishing just 0.625 seconds off what would have been a first Ferrari podium, was particularly upbeat.

He said: “We’re not as fast as Mercedes – we’ve got work to do – but we’re right in the fight. It’s not impossible. We need to find out whether it’s [engine] power or battery power, but the car is just as quick [as Mercedes] through the corners so we’ve got to keep pushing.”

Defending champions McLaren look some way off, Lando Norris a distant fifth in Melbourne while Oscar Piastri crashed before the race began. And Max Verstappen, who climbed to sixth from 18th on the grid, thinks there’s “a decent gap” between Red Bull and the top two.

Whether the likes of Norris and Verstappen will eventually join the fight remains to be seen. But, for now, we at least have hope that Ferrari might be able to keep Mercedes honest. And even though the podium continues to elude Hamilton, based on this evidence, it feels like it’s only a matter of time until we see the seven-time champion back up there again.