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Motorsport

Lewis Hamilton positive on Ferrari pace: A lot of work to do to catch Mercedes but not impossible

Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Ferrari Charles Leclerc George Russell the Australian Grand Prix Australian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has admitted that Ferrari still has a lot of work to do to catch up to Mercedes, but insisted that it is "not impossible".

Both Hamilton and his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc had incredibly strong starts to the Australian Grand Prix. The Monegasque driver took the lead from George Russell at the race start and the first handful of laps saw a strong battle between the two drivers. Hamilton was also in the mix, following closely behind after pulling himself from a seventh place start.

When two separate incidents caused virtual safety cars, the Maranello outfit decided not to pit both Leclerc and Hamilton. While the seven-time champion questioned the decision at the time, he explained after the race that he would review it.

"I have to go back and have a look but I'm generally really proud of the team," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. "They have done an amazing job to get the car to where it is. Of course, we are not as fast as Mercedes and we have work to do, but we are right in the fight.

"It was a really fun race and it felt good for me. A couple more laps and I would have had Charles, so I had great pace. Lots of positives to take from today."

When asked if the Australian Grand Prix was a true representation of Ferrari's pace, he added: "All weekend I've been really strong. Qualifying didn't show the true pace. We had a few problems through qualifying which meant I was further back than I should have been.

"We went into today and none of us really knew what the true pace would be but I felt great from the get-go.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes (Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images)

"There's lots of positives but we have a lot of work to do to catch Mercedes but it's not impossible. I believe we can close the gap. It's not going to be easy, got a lot of work to do because it's quite significant, particularly on a single lap.

"We need to find out whether it's power, or battery power, but the cars are just as quick through the corners so we need to keep pushing."

Hamilton ultimately finished the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in fourth. Mercedes celebrated a 1-2 finish with George Russell taking the victory and Kimi Antonelli in second. Leclerc took the last spot on the podium in third.