Lewis Hamilton has warned his Mercedes side to expect a Ferrari resurgence in F1 2019’s next races after pre-season predictions were turned on their head at the Australian GP.

Mercedes’ one-two qualifying and race finish in Melbourne was an “incredible achievement”, according to Hamilton, after a winter testing programme where their Italian rivals were stronger.

The Brit, when questioned by Journalists on if he was surprised to see Ferrari so far behind on the opening weekend, replied “Everyone is, probably. No one was expecting to have a gap like that when we came into the weekend”.

He went further to expound “Honestly, what I was shown and led to believe from the analysis we were given, was that they were ahead. It obviously wasn’t the case during this weekend and I’m not quite sure why their performance was how it was.

“I wouldn’t say we particularly over-delivered, we did our normal job in the sense of our operations, and the team did an exceptional job throughout the weekend.

“I don’t know what their problem was. I’m sure they’ll come back strong in the next races so we’ve got to stay on our toes.”

Hamilton was beaten by Valtteri Boattas to the Silver Arrows’ first victory of 2019 and by a rare 20-second margin. A fault in his car has been sited as one of the causes of his defeat.

Although Hamilton has now not won in Melbourne for four years despite a run of six consecutive pole positions, the five-time champion says he heads bac