Frederic Vasseur was thrilled with the start Lewis Hamilton made to his second season with Ferrari, and revealed the Scuderia are far from the finished article in 2026. 

Ferrari started the 2026 Formula One season strongly at the Australian Grand Prix last weekend, with Charles Leclerc crossing the line in third, while Hamilton took fourth. 

The seven-time world champion qualified in seventh but was able to make up three places, though it was former team Mercedes who led the way with George Russell. 

Kimi Antonelli, the driver brought in to replace Hamilton at the Silver Arrows, took the chequered flag in second, but it was a significant improvement for Vasseur and Ferrari. 

Hamilton himself endured an underwhelming debut season with the Scuderia, failing to finish in the podium places for the first time in his illustrious F1 career, with his best result being fourth, which he managed on four occasions. 

"Very pleased with the performance of Lewis over the weekend, but I think we have to stop saying one weekend he's there, one weekend he's not there," said Vasseur.

"It's a sport, sometimes we are doing a good session, sometimes not. [On Saturday] the quali, honestly, as a team principal, I was disappointed. [On Sunday] it was much better.

"It's part of the game that we have to work all together, to push all together."

That was some drive around Albert Park! pic.twitter.com/s3Fa2mOfqt

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 8, 2026

Hamilton returns to the track where he won his first race with Ferrari, albeit in the sprint, at the Chinese Grand Prix, with the Briton often imperious at this circuit. 

No driver has achieved more victories (six), more pole positions (six), more fastest laps (four) and more podiums (nine) in China than Hamilton, who also leads the statistics for laps led (306) and points scored (221). 

Ferrari had to wait until the season's fifth round to secure a Grand Prix podium last season, but their early 2026 form both in pre-season testing and Australia has offered the promise of a possible challenge for the world championships.

The Scuderia have not won the Constructors' Championship since 2008, and despite their strong start this year, Vasseur promised that there was more to come. 

"We know that we have tonnes of things to improve - on the strategy, on the engine, on the chassis, on the tyres, on everything," said the Ferrari team principal.

"And for the drivers to be used to deal with the car as it is today. If you have the radio of everybody, you saw that it's quite a challenge. It's true for us, but it's true for the others.

"The result will be based on our capacity to improve quickly."