The Scuderia elected not to pit either Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton during two early virtual safety car periods at Albert Park, a decision that ultimately handed control of the race to Mercedes as George Russell led home teammate Kimi Antonelli in a one-two.
Leclerc had taken the lead from Russell at the start after launching from fourth on the grid, with the pair engaged in an intense battle that saw the lead change multiple times in the opening laps.
Hamilton also surged forward from seventh to run third, putting both Ferraris firmly in the fight at the front.
The complexion of the race shifted on Lap 11 when Isack Hadjar stopped his Red Bull at the side of the track, triggering a Virtual Safety Car.
Mercedes immediately took advantage, double-stacking Russell and Antonelli in the pits, while Ferrari kept both of its cars on track.
A second opportunity soon followed when Valtteri Bottas pulled his Cadillac to a halt near the pit entry, prompting another VSC.
Ferrari again stayed out, only for the pit lane to be closed moments later as marshals moved Bottas’ car, leaving the team unable to pit before racing resumed.
With both Ferraris eventually stopping under green flag conditions, Leclerc fell to third while Hamilton finished fourth behind the Mercedes pair.
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Despite the scrutiny that followed the call, team principal Fred Vasseur insisted the strategy itself was not the defining factor in the result.
“We have to be realistic with this, they were eight tenths faster than us yesterday,” Vasseur said.
“We fight like hell at the beginning. Now I think at this stage of the race, nobody was expecting to be one [pit] stop. We targeted the optimum for us, and the optimum was to extend.
“We were also surprised by the life of the tyres. I think we could have done 300 laps today!
“But it is like it is, I think they still had, during the race, a delta of performance with us.
“The issue is not the strategy or the core, it’s just the pure pace.”
Vasseur also rejected suggestions that mirroring Mercedes’ early stop would have put Ferrari in position to win the race.
“I think the pace of Mercedes was better than us,” he admitted.
“Even when they pitted they were there or four tenths faster than us and they kept this pace all the stint.
“Ok, probably we were able to fight a little bit more at the beginning but perhaps pushing a bit more on the tyres and I have no regrets on the strategy, no regrets on the pace of today.
“We did a decent step compared to yesterday and let’s be focused on China.”
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Leclerc echoed that view after the race, explaining that the team’s call was a calculated gamble based on the expectation of further interruptions.
“I mean, I don’t regret it,” said Leclerc.
“It was a wanted and conscious choice. Looking at FP1 to now, there’s been at every session a car that was stopped, at least one car.
“We knew that there were very high chances that this was not going to be the only VSC of the race and so we thought that it was better for us to maybe wait for another one, and that’s always a gamble.
“Of course, we didn’t know that this would happen. Reality is we’ve had other VSC after and one which was particularly well placed but unfortunately for this one for us the pit entry was closed and we couldn’t take it.
“So we were a little bit unlucky on that side but it was a conscious choice again and I don’t really regret it.”
Hamilton questioned the call during the race as the Mercedes cars pitted around him, but ultimately downplayed any frustration with the result.
“There’s no mixed emotions, I feel great,” he said after the race.
“It was a really great race. Seventh to fourth. I think the team did a great job overall and the car was fantastic.”
While acknowledging Mercedes appeared to have the upper hand on pace, the seven-time world champion admitted the team would still analyse the decision.
“I think ultimately the Mercedes were quicker than us, and that’s probably the only position,” Hamilton added.
“The only result is that we were going to have a maximum of third again today.
“We’ll definitely go and look and see whether stopping might be better.
“I definitely thought, when I saw two Mercedes going, one ahead of me, one behind me, I thought we should have come in, or at least one of us should have come in and covered.
“We’ll have a look and see what we’ve got there.”
Despite missing out on victory in Melbourne, Ferrari left the opening race of the 2026 season second in the constructors’ championship with 27 points, 22 more than from the same race a year ago.
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