Lewis Hamilton has issued a call to Ferrari to improve its pace on the straights in a bid to compete with Mercedes.
The new F1 campaign kicked off last weekend at the Australian Grand Prix, where Mercedes scored a 1-2 result with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
Ferrari bagged a podium with Charles Leclerc while Hamilton was just one second behind his team-mate at the finish line.
The seven-time champion is still awaiting his first trip to the podium with the Italian squad following his arrival from Mercedes at the start of 2025.
With the first round of the F1 season in the books, Hamilton expressed confidence that Ferrari can eat into the advantage held by Mercedes.
“We just got to keep pushing, and we got to bring upgrades and keep developing,” Hamilton told media including RacingNews365.
“I know the team is working hard on [it], to make sure that we can compete.
“We got to look and see where we're losing. It looks like we're losing in a straight because I think we're just as quick as them through corners.
“The car is good, we just need to see. They have something on straight-line speed.
“That's something we need to figure out, but I have no doubts that we can do that.”
Hamilton endured a miserable campaign with Ferrari in 2025 as he failed to properly gel with his car.
But having started the new season on a much more hopeful note, the 41-year-old has set his sights on a podium breakthrough with the squad.
“A couple of more laps, and I would have had Charles, so that's positive,” he said.
“I know in the next race, I know where we need to pick up and improve on, we could be fighting for podiums moving forwards.”
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