Portugal Colonial - Hamilton says 'not where we wanted or expected' for Australian GP

The Briton had been fast all weekend in his Ferrari but was unable to translate that into a better grid position in Melbourne for the season-opener on Sunday.

"Today's result is not where we wanted or expected to be, mainly because we lost execution at an important stage of qualifying," said Hamilton, who is hoping for a better season than his dismal debut year with Ferrari in 2025.

"However, the car felt solid and there is clearly more potential than the final position suggests.

"Now it's about understanding the issues, staying composed and making the most of tomorrow."

Hamilton's teammate Charles Leclerc fared better, coming fourth behind dominant Mercedes polesitter George Russell.

But he too felt like it was an underachievement.

"There were some challenges today, as expected for the first qualifying in these new cars," he said, with all cars on the grid grappling with new engine and chassis rules.

"It's difficult to make any predictions for now. It's the first race weekend of a new regulatory cycle and a championship that will be won by development.

"We are very focused on that and will extract everything we have from our current package. It will be interesting to see how all the teams will manage the race tomorrow."

Team chief Fred Vasseur was also frustrated, but said their pace was good and has high hopes for Sunday's race.

"You can do as much testing as you like, but it is never the same as tackling a real qualifying session with all the other cars around you," he said.

"It was a new challenge and we did not manage to put everything together as we had a few issues during the session.

"The most important thing is to learn from what we did not do well today and focus on tomorrow's race."

Ferreira--PC