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Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur says the team "don't regret" their strategy choices after initially fighting Mercedes for the win at the Australian Grand Prix.
A superb start from Charles Leclerc in fourth saw him take the lead away from pole-sitter George Russell at the first corner, before the pair exchanged the lead seven times in the first nine laps as they adjusted to F1's new style of racing which heavily relies in energy deployment modes.
But, the on-track battle was cut short by a Virtual Safety Car on Lap 13 when Mercedes pitted both of their drivers onto the hard tyres and Ferrari kept out Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
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Although the Ferrari drivers had fresher hard tyres for the second half of the race, neither driver looked like catching eventual race-winner George Russell or second-placed Kimi Antonelli as Leclerc finished third and Hamilton in fourth.
"The pace of Mercedes was better than us," said Vasseur.
"When they pitted they were three, four tenths faster than us, and they kept this pace, all the stint. Okay, we were able to fight a little bit more at the beginning, but perhaps pushing a bit more on the tyres.
"I have no regret on the strategy, no regret on the pace of today. We did a decent step compared to yesterday. Let's be focused on China now."
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Some teams suffered with tyre degradation during the race but not Mercedes, so Russell and Antonelli were able to do 45 laps on the hards without losing too much pace.
Vasseur says Ferrari were not comfortable a one-stop was possible when Mercedes pitted and that the issue was "pure pace, not the strategy".
"We have to be realistic with this. They were eight tenths faster than us yesterday. We fought like hell in the beginning," he said.
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"At this stage of the race, nobody was expecting to do one-stop. We targeted the optimum for us, and the optimum was to extend.
"Now we are also a bit surprised, but I think Mercedes were also [and] with the life of the tyres, they could have done 300 laps today."
Bernie Collins and Jenson Button on Ferrari's strategy
Sky Sports F1's Bernie Collins
"Lewis Hamilton was quite strong on the radio, particularly under that first VSC, saying ‘why didn’t we do one car, at least?’
"I was surprised initially that Mercedes double stacked because they were quite close together, but they were pretty confident in what they wanted to do.
"And then in the second VSC, Charles Leclerc was just at the safety car line when the VSC was released, and Lewis a bit further back.
"But the yellow flag had been out for 19 seconds at that point, so potentially for Lewis, there was time for Ferrari to react, and that will raise some questions."
Sky Sports F1's Jenson Button
"It was so nice to see that fight in the early laps of the race and they seemed evenly paced.
"It was a shame one of the Ferraris didn't pit under the VSC. At this point of the season, it's a good idea to split."
Leclerc suggests Ferrari wanted to wait for another VSC
There was another Virtual Safety Car on Lap 19 but the pit entry was closed due to Valtteri Bottas' stricken Cadillac, so Ferrari were unable to also make a cheaper pit stop.
Leclerc suggested Ferrari expected a more attritional race which would lead to further Safety Cars or Virtual Safety Cars to provide more opportunities before pitting.
Ultimately, both Ferrari drivers pitted under green flag conditions and were unable to make up for the lost time to Russell and Antonelli where they stayed out on old tyres compared to the Mercedes drivers on fresher rubber.
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Leclerc said: "I don't regret it. It was a wanted choice, a wanted and conscious choice. Looking from 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.
"That's always a gamble, of course. We didn't know that this would happen. The reality is we've had other VSCs 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."
Just six tenths of a second split Leclerc and Hamilton at the chequered flag, with the seven-time world champion closing in on his Ferrari team-mate at the end.
Hamilton thought he was just two laps from overtaking Leclerc and standing on the podium for the first time as a Ferrari driver.
"I'm generally really proud of the team. They have done an amazing job to get the car to where it is," he told Sky Sports F1.
"Of course, we are not as fast at Mercedes and we have work to do but we are right in the fight. It was a really fun race and it felt good for me. A couple more laps and I would have had Charles, so I had great pace. Lots of positives to take from today."
Formula 1 heads to Shanghai for the first Sprint weekend of the 2026 season at the Chinese Grand Prix from this Friday, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
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