At least Williams driver Felipe Massa could see the funny side of Mercedes’s dominance at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Massa jokingly hinted at an engine conspiracy theory after admitting Mercedes were in a “different category” following defending world champion Lewis Hamilton’s record fourth pole position at Albert Park.

Massa literally left his best until last, qualifying in third spot for Sunday’s F1 season opener with his final lap – but still a remarkable 1.391 seconds behind Hamilton.

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate and defending Australian Grand Prix champion Nico Rosberg was second fastest, 0.594 seconds slower than the British pace setter.

Mercedes have locked up the front row at the last nine grand prix.

Diminutive Brazilian Massa may not have been able to threaten Mercedes on track but still got their attention at the post qualifying press conference with his cheeky dig.

Media were scratching their heads over how Hamilton and Rosberg could be so much faster than Massa despite the Williams driver being armed with the same Mercedes engine.

“Seeing we have the same engine I suppose the difference is in the car… I hope we have the same engine,” Massa smiled.

Hamilton, sitting next to Massa, then interjected: “What are you trying to say?”

Massa quickly added: “I don’t know, I just hope we have the same engine.

“(But) Mercedes are in a different category.

“It’s not great to see this difference but we will keep fighting and get as close as we can.”

Massa – a veteran of 210 grands prix – missed Friday’s practice session due to a water leak but came out firing in qualifying.

Just 0.072 of a second separated Massa in third from Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel (fourth) and Kimi Raikkonen (fifth).

Massa believed the Williams-Ferrari duel would decide the “best of the rest” after Red Bull’s Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo (seventh fastest) battled away on Saturday.

“I don’t think Red Bull is really there for the moment – but I am sure Red Bull will get there,” he said.

“For the moment Ferrari is really strong.

“They have made a big step forward compared to last year.

“Tomorrow we need to be a bit more worried about Ferrari but keep an eye out for Red Bull.”

A big disappointment was McLaren with former world champion Jenson Button in 16th place, beating team-mate Kevin Magnussen by 0.6 seconds and both falling in the first knock-out phase of qualifying.