Lewis Hamilton Raises Suspicion Over Mercedes Dominance, Questions FIA Control

Lewis Hamilton has questioned whether Mercedes' advantage in qualifying for Formula 1's Australian Grand Prix is down to an engine compression ratio trick.

Former teammate George Russell led a dominant Silver Arrows 1-2 at Albert Park on Saturday, with Kimi Antonelli overcoming multiple incidents to join the Briton on the front row.

Most alarmingly, third-place Isack Hadjar was over half a second down in his Red Bull, with only two-tenths between the Frenchman and Hamilton in seventh.

Lewis Hamilton suspicious

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 2026 F1 pre-season testing | Scuderia Ferrari

While many will scratch their heads over the loss of competitiveness experienced by Ferrari from FP1 to qualifying, Hamilton aroused suspicion about the sudden dominance enjoyed by his former employer.

“I don't understand it exactly,” Hamilton told the media per RacingNews365. “They didn't show that they could turn it up in testing and now they've got this extra power from somewhere. We need to understand what that is. I hope it's not this compression ratio thing. Hopefully, it's just pure power and we've got to do a better job."

Mercedes entered the first weekend of the new F1 season as title favorite but had already been dragged into a controversy over the winter with regard to its power unit.

GEORGE RUSSELL IS ON POLE POSITION IN AUSTRALIA! 🥇

WHAT. A. LAP! 👏#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/RCXFOluHJN
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 7, 2026

Rivals Ferrari, Audi and Honda had all suspected that the German manufacturer had found a way to surpass the 16:1 compression ratio limit within the engine with a trick that meant it passed the ambient temperature tests before track running.

F1's governing body, the FIA, announced in the build-up to the Australian GP weekend that a compromise had been made in the regulations after "significant effort" from all parties, which would mean that ratio tests would be undertaken in both hot and cold temperatures from June 1.

Furthermore, only hot tests will be used from 2027 onwards.

But Hamilton expressed concern about the FIA's handling of the situation should it transpire that Mercedes has found a way to circumvent the existing regulations to find its advantage.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Australian GP 2026 — Scuderia Ferrari

“If it is the compression thing, then I will be disappointed that the FIA allowed that to be the case, that it's not to the book. I will be pushing my team to do the same thing so we can get more powerful.”

Customer Mercedes-powered teams endured mixed results in qualifying, with McLaren qualifying fourth and fifth, Alpine 14th and 16th and Williams 15th and 21st - Carlos Sainz failing to set a lap time for the latter after issues on Saturday left him in the garage.