Lewis Hamilton's F1 team-mate urges Ferrari to 'annoy' Mercedes at Japanese Grand Prix

Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc has warned fans that he and Lewis Hamilton are not as close to winning a race as some might think.

Leclerc and seven-time world champion Hamilton have been involved in fights for podiums in all three races so far, and have also led laps at both the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix.

Their fast starts have meant that they've been able to get ahead of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, before being reeled in by the Mercedes duo as the races have progressed.

Nonetheless, it appears as though Ferrari are the second-fastest team in the sport this season, and that has led to hope that they can claim some race victories and maybe even mount a challenge for the constructors' championship.

Now, however, Leclerc has suggested that the gap to the dominant Mercedes team is very big, and that the best he and Hamilton can do is 'annoy' the Mercedes drivers at the start.

"I don’t think it’s as close as maybe people think," Leclerc warned in the official FIA press conference at the Japanese Grand Prix.

"Obviously the first few races we see lots of fighting between the cars, which is actually quite nice, but as soon as you are a little bit suboptimal with these cars you lose a lot of lap time.

"So, our only chance to stay with them is to annoy them in the first few laps, but as soon as they get free air then they’ve shown their real pace in the last race, and I think there’s still these four or five tenths that we’ve seen throughout these first two races.

"It’s still a significant advantage. But yes, that doesn’t discourage me and again we have some things in the pipeline. We’ve got to focus on ourselves, not trying to overdo it because it’s never good in these situations, and then we’ll see where that brings us."

READ MORE: FIA storm after Mercedes F1 disqualification verdict

Hamilton and Leclerc fighting it out

Unlike in 2025 when Hamilton first joined the team, Leclerc seemingly has a team-mate who can take the fight to him and help the team to maximise their results.

Hamilton finished 86 points behind Leclerc in 2025, failing to secure a single grand prix podium while Leclerc picked up seven, but Hamilton already has a podium under his belt in 2026, and is just one point behind Leclerc in the early championship standings.

The 41-year-old seems rejuvenated in his SF-26, and fought Leclerc hard at the Chinese GP last time out in a brilliant battle for the final podium place.

The two drivers will not want to just be squabbling over third and fourth for the entire season, however, and will be relying on their team to bring upgrades that can propel them into contention for race victories.

READ MORE: Audi F1 driver reacts to team boss departure: 'Oh s***!'