Lewis Hamilton commended Ferrari`s “world-class” performance during Austrian Grand Prix qualifying. The team achieved their best grid positions of what has been a disappointing season so far.
Charles Leclerc unexpectedly split the dominant McLarens to secure second place on the grid, equaling Ferrari`s top qualifying result of the season. Meanwhile, Hamilton qualified fourth, securing a spot on the second row for the first time since joining the Scuderia.
Ferrari introduced a new floor upgrade to their SF-25 car for the weekend. Hamilton, who qualified less than a tenth of a second behind both Leclerc and third-placed Oscar Piastri, described it as “a fantastic result.” He added, “The team has worked incredibly hard back at the factory to bring us a new floor this weekend.”
“Considering where we were yesterday, to be much closer today and on the second row is truly fantastic. And for Charles to be on the front row too,” Hamilton commented.
“My last lap wasn`t perfect. I think if I had finished it perfectly, I could have been second, so there are many positives to take away from that session.”
“Also, I believe it was our best day operationally, especially during qualifying. The timings, the information we received regarding traffic and track positioning, I think it was genuinely the best and truly world-class execution. That`s what we`ve been working towards.”
Hamilton`s Podium Wait
Although he won the Sprint race in China and finished third in the Miami Sprint in May, Hamilton`s last official Grand Prix podium finish was in November last year at the Las Vegas GP, while still a Mercedes driver.
The seven-time world champion is currently on a streak of 12 races without a top-three finish, just one race shy of his longest podium drought in his illustrious 18-year F1 career.
“Every race, I`ve been saying I can`t wait to get that first podium, so I`m not going to say that today!” said Hamilton. “I`m just going to stay quiet and try to do a better job tomorrow.”
Leclerc Aims to Challenge McLaren
Ferrari`s strong qualifying result was partly helped by yellow flags at the final corner, which affected both Piastri and Max Verstappen on their crucial final laps. Leclerc`s gap to pole-sitter Lando Norris was still over half a second.
Nevertheless, outperforming recent Canadian GP winners Mercedes and challenging Red Bull`s Verstappen to be the closest rivals to McLaren throughout the weekend, Leclerc saw clear positives from the upgraded car`s performance.
“The upgrades definitely helped us,” he stated. “How much? It`s hard to tell, especially with how tight the margins are – except for Lando – but it certainly helped us get on the front row, so for that, we should be proud of the work done.”
“Apart from that, I think we did a great job. We worked very well this weekend, and I`m looking forward to tomorrow because most of the time our race car performs better than our qualifying car.”
When asked if he could challenge for the victory, Leclerc replied, “I will give it my all. We`ll see; I don`t have the answers right now.”
“The gap was very big today, but tomorrow with tyre management, I think we have a good car in that regard. Whether it will be as good as McLaren`s, I don`t know, but I will do absolutely everything to make McLaren`s life as tough as possible.”
