Jolyon Palmer sees Ferrari’s ‘biggest reason to smile’ in their Australian GP data versus Mercedes

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Jolyon Palmer believes Ferrari’s cornering speed at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix is their “biggest reason” to smile, after comparing the Scuderia’s data with Mercedes’.

Mercedes opened the 2026 F1 season with a one-two finish at Albert Park last Sunday, with George Russell converting pole position to register the first win of the year ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Ferrari ace Charles Leclerc bagged P3, but he finished 15.519s from the lead.

Leclerc fought Russell for the lead of the Australian GP in the early laps after making a rapid launch from P4 on the grid. Yet Ferrari’s decision not to pit under the early virtual safety car in Melbourne like Mercedes swung the race towards Russell and ended Leclerc’s bid to win.

Still, Palmer sees a big reason for Ferrari to be happy with their efforts, even though Russell secured pole for the Australian GP with a 0.809s margin over Leclerc. Russell’s pole lap was also 0.293s faster than Antonelli’s time for P2, and 0.785s over Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar in P3.

Which F1 team had the most surprising race pace data at the Australian Grand Prix?

Let us know in the comments below! Data from @FDataAnalysis

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Jolyon Palmer believes Ferrari’s cornering speed compared to Mercedes’ in Australia was a big positive

Palmer feels most of Russell’s advantage in qualifying came from Mercedes’ superior energy management at the Australian GP with the new engines. Russell and Antonelli held a higher top speed before they encountered clipping, which particularly paid off in the middle sector.

READ MORE: Five things we learnt from the 2026 Australian GP after Oscar Piastri crashed

Yet Ferrari should be pleased that the data from the Australian GP showed the SF-26 was at least on par with the Mercedes W17 through the corners, and “even quicker” in the slower turns. Palmer also points to the fact that Albert Park is an outlier circuit on the F1 calendar.

Palmer told the official F1 website: “The biggest reason Ferrari have to smile is the nature of the circuit. Albert Park was a headache for this generation of cars. The amount of energy harvesting was extreme, as could be seen from the onboards, particularly into Turn 9.

“The Mercedes margin to the field on Saturday was huge, but it was also largely to do with energy deployment on a particular outlier of a circuit. Looking through the data, the energy deployment differences between Ferrari and Mercedes were the key difference.

“The Ferraris were having to harvest the most of all of the top teams on the straights, but their cornering performance was on par with Mercedes. They were even quicker through the low-speed corners.

“In 2026, that is a fair representation of car performance, because with active aero, there aren’t really downforce considerations that can blur the picture anymore.”

Leclerc’s verdict on Mercedes’ pace during the Australian GP should have also encouraged Ferrari that the SF-26 can challenge the W17 this season. After seeing Russell’s advantage in qualifying, Leclerc was surprised that Mercedes’ advantage in the race was not stronger.

The Monegasque does not believe he had the pace to beat Russell to the win at Albert Park, and Ferrari’s decision not to pit during the first VSC did not decide the outcome of the race. But Mercedes’ advantage was seemingly not as large in the race as it was over a single lap.