Jolyon Palmer shares why Lewis Hamilton looks ‘most competitive’ versus Charles Leclerc in Australia

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Jolyon Palmer thinks the handling of Ferrari’s SF-26 at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix has let Lewis Hamilton be his “most competitive” as teammates with Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton joined Leclerc at Ferrari in 2025, but the Briton endured what he came to describe as his “worst season ever” in Formula 1. The seven-time champion only recorded 156 points for fifth in the 2025 F1 drivers’ standings, while Leclerc registered 242 points to rank in sixth.

Leclerc also thrashed Hamilton in their head-to-head last year, with the Monegasque ending the campaign with a 19-5 record in qualifying and 18-3 for Grand Prix results. It seemed like Leclerc would start 2026 as the top Ferrari driver after pre-season testing in Bahrain, as well.

While Hamilton gradually closed his deficit to Leclerc through testing, the 41-year-old largely looked less comfortable in the SF-26 than the 28-year-old. Cars built to F1’s 2026 rules are shorter, narrower and lighter than the ground-effect era that Hamilton hated from 2022-25.

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Jolyon Palmer feels the Ferrari SF-26 is ‘clearly responding’ to what Lewis Hamilton wants at the Australian Grand Prix

The first practice session of the 2026 F1 season at the Australian GP also saw Leclerc come out on top. Leclerc led Hamilton in a Ferrari one-two in FP1 in Melbourne this Friday, yet the Briton hit back in FP2 – albeit in P4 and P5, while 0.321s and 0.562s from Oscar Piastri in P1.

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Hamilton’s efforts around Albert Park during FP2 at the Australian GP drew Palmer’s eye, as the record 105-time Grand Prix winner appeared to be the “most competitive” he has been since joining Ferrari one year ago. Palmer believes the SF-26 and the track helped Hamilton.

Palmer said on F1TV: “Hamilton looks comfortable. In that relative battle between Hamilton and Leclerc, driving the same car, this is the most competitive I’ve seen Lewis for a long time – at a circuit that he likes, and with a car that is clearly responding to what he’s wanting, by and large.”

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Hamilton has only ever won the Australian GP twice through his previous 17 visits to Albert Park, having won for McLaren in 2008 and Mercedes in 2015 – both years in which he went on to win the title. F1 did not race in Australia in 2020 or 2021 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Leclerc is also a former Australian GP winner, having won for Ferrari in 2022, after the pride of Italy emerged with what appeared to be a title-contending car at the start of the ground-effect era. Carlos Sainz also won with Ferrari in 2024, for one of their 11 wins at Albert Park.

Hamilton and Leclerc will hope their promising start to the 2026 F1 regulations era pays off in the Australian GP this Sunday. But any success in Melbourne will likely come with a sense of hope that Ferrari do not fall away through the remainder of the season, like they did in 2022.

After winning the 2022 Australian GP in the third of the 22 rounds staged that term, Leclerc topped the standings by 34 points over Mercedes’ George Russell. Leclerc also held a 46-point margin over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who ultimately sealed the title by 146 points.