Charles Leclerc's worrying Mercedes claim after Australian GP qualifying

Charles Leclerc has made a claim about Mercedes that will worry the rest of the Formula 1 grid after Australian Grand Prix qualifying.

George Russell put his Mercedes on pole for the race on Sunday, ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

Red Bull's Isack Hadjar was in a clear third place, nearly eight tenths slower than polesitter Russell, with Leclerc in fourth.

Mercedes had been widely tipped to set the pace in Australia ahead of the weekend given their superior power unit and performances during testing.

Still, the sheer margin between themselves and the other frontrunners appeared to take many aback.

During his post-qualifying interview, Hadjar admitted that his main aim for the race was to maintain his qualifying position, having accepted that he would not be able to challenge the Mercedes cars.

George Russell (right) and Kimi Antonelli occupy the front row for the Australian GP (Image: Getty)

Lewis Hamilton, who put his Ferrari in seventh place, said he 'want[s] to understand' why Mercedes are two tenths quicker on power, each sector, than their rivals.

"If it's a compression thing, I want to understand why the FIA haven't done anything and what's been done to rectify it," he said, referring to the ongoing row over whether Mercedes have breached regulations through the use of engine compression ratios.

"If it's not, and it's just pure power, we have to do a better job."

His team-mate Leclerc, meanwhile, has suggested that Mercedes may not yet even be running to the peak of their power unit's capabilities, despite their superior pace so far in Melbourne.

"I cannot do anything [to catch them]," he told F1TV's Lawrence Barretto.

Leclerc qualified in fourth place for the Australian GP (Image: Getty)

"Yesterday, they were super, super strong, and I don't think they had the engine turned up the way they did this morning.

"I don't even know if they were at full power in qualifying. Maybe they kept a little bit [back], because this morning [in FP3] was just crazy.

"So tomorrow I don't really know what to expect. But I think they will be in another world. Probably a little bit less than a second faster than everybody else, that's what I would expect."

Australian Grand Prix full grid

1) George Russell (Mercedes) - 1:18.518

2) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

3) Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)

4) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

5) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

6) Lando Norris (McLaren)

7) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

8) Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

9) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

10) Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

11) Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

12) Oliver Bearman (Haas)

13) Esteban Ocon (Haas)

14) Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

15) Alex Albon (Williams)

16) Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

17) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

18) Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

19) Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

20) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - no lap time

21) Carlos Sainz (Williams) - no lap time

22) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) - no lap time