“Question mark” about Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes posed at F1 Chinese Grand Prix

A “question mark” has been raised about Lewis Hamilton and his old team Mercedes ahead of the F1 Chinese Grand Prix.

Hamilton had a Ferrari debut to forget last weekend at the 2025 season-opening Australian Grand Prix, finishing 10th, two places behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

Mercedes soared to third and fourth via George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli respectively.

However, the race in Australia was a chaotic affair in wet conditions which means there are unanswered questions about the F1 pecking order.

“We haven’t had a chance to see where Ferrari sit within the top four,” Bernie Collins told the Sky F1 podcast.

“We are still not sure after Australia, because of what happened in qualifying and the wet race.

“It should look stronger, at least. They shouldn’t be finishing eighth and tenth, for sure.

“They will have learned a lot communication-wise from the first race. There was a lot going on there.”

Hamilton and his new race engineer Riccardo Adami found communication challenging in their first grand prix together.

Hamilton repeatedly said “leave me to it”, which Martin Brundle called “angsty”.

The relationship between Hamilton and Adami must improve heading into their second outing together in China if they are to out-pace Mercedes.

“China is a different track in different temperatures and tyre compounds,” Collins said.

“It looks like a dry weekend. It looks warm for China although the forecast changes.

“It is going to play to different strengths. We should see them move up.

“The question mark for me is: ‘are they faster than Mercedes or not?’

“Hopefully we get an answer by Saturday. They have got two gos at a qualifying session.”

'Difficult' Chinese GP for rookies

The F1 Chinese Grand Prix is a sprint race weekend, meaning a different schedule is in place.

This could play havoc for the six rookie drivers on the grid - several of whom endured an opening weekend to forget in Australia, largely because of the wet conditions.

They must now seamlessly adapt to a different schedule in China - one practice session then sprint qualifying on Friday, the sprint race then qualifying for the grand prix on Saturday, then the grand prix on Sunday.

“It is really difficult,” Collins warned.

“Last year was particularly difficult in China because we hadn’t been since 2019.

“This year, they will have last year’s data to look at.

“From a rookie point of view, there is a lot of driving before you hit the main qualifying and the main race.

“There are less engineers playing with setups, like on a normal weekend.

“Yes, you are straight into a competitive session which is difficult.

“But you should have more track time by the time you get to qualifying on Saturday afternoon, and the race on Sunday.”