Ferrari’s strong starts and superior cornering speed puts them in the mix in the early laps, and the new hybrid engine with their “boost” and “overtake” modes leads to switching of positions for a while.
But the longer the race goes on, the more Mercedes’ inherent advantage pays off.
Hamilton said: “Definitely feeling thirsty on power when we’re behind them. It’s really, really hard to keep up and you could tell they just have more grunt, they’re just pulling for longer.
“That’s why I died this morning (in the sprint). I was just trying to make it up through the corners, but it just wasn’t making any difference, so just killing my tyres.”
Hamilton praised Antonelli’s new record as “an amazing achievement” and predicted that it was “going to take a while for someone to ever get close to that one”.
The seven-time champion appears rejuvenated by the new 2026 cars, and seems back to something close to his previous form before the ground-effect cars of the past four years, with which he was never comfortable.
And Russell is still wary of the Ferraris’ potential to disrupt.
“It has been great opening few laps for the last two races. We know Ferrari are quick off the line and we’ve got them in P3 and P4, which is the first time of the season, and Lewis was obviously great at the beginning of the race this morning, so I am sure it’s not going to be straightforward.”
He says he has been enjoying the scraps with Ferrari.
“With the overtake mode, the driver behind can use the boost button up to I think 330km/h, where the guy in the front can only use it to 290km/h.
“It seems to work quite well. It isn’t DRS, but it works in a similar pattern for the speed delta.
“It’s been quite interesting, quite fun, and I think even some diehards maybe aren’t disliking it as much as they did maybe a week ago. We just still need to give it a chance.”
The McLarens qualified fifth and sixth, Oscar Piastri ahead of world champion Lando Norris. Can they mix it with the Ferraris?
Norris said: “We have a better power unit than the Ferrari. Our advantage is that we just have more straight-line speed.
“But they’re still a car that drives around the corners quicker than even a Mercedes. So, to keep up with them in the corners and then try to get them in the straight is difficult.
“So, between Mercedes and them they have different places they’re strong.
“But we’ll see. I mean they have better tyre management, they have more grip. And therefore it’s much easier for the car if the tyre is that way.
“We have to push like hell in the corners to keep up and then we can obviously catch up in the straight. That’s kind of the wrong end of the stick you want to be on in a race situation at times.
“But never say never. If we can improve on some things from this morning, then we’re certainly not out of the picture of racing them.”