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Lewis Hamilton believes F1 drivers won't fully know the reality behind following rival cars until they are "really deep in it" at the Australian GP.

As drivers grappled to understand the complex new power units and active aerodynamics in pre-season testing, many tried to get behind a rival car for several laps in order to evaluate the difficulty in following.

Whilst the advent of the active aero with straight line mode (SM), when the front and rear wings open, has been designed to aid overtaking, drivers must also modulate the use of their battery to a far greater extent, now the electrical system plays a 50% role in power output along with the internal combustion engine.

The initial reactions from testing are that following behind another car is not too dissimilar to 2025, but Hamilton believes the true picture will only reveal itself when F1 is "deep" in its season-opener in Melbourne on March 8th.

"I think we're all trying to figure out at the moment what it is going to be like in race conditions," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365.

"Obviously, we have the straight line mode (SM), we have the overtake and the boost, so I think people who were doing long runs [in testing] were trying to find somebody to get behind and see what it is like behind them.

"When I was in Barcelona, I was behind someone; it didn't feel great when I was behind someone; it felt okay, but I think it is going ot be something we won't fully know until we're really deep in it at the first race.

"I don't know what the other [drivers] feel, and I don't know if it is going to be better; we shall see."

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