Lewis Hamilton teases Ferrari ‘strategy’ as Austrian GP silver lining spotted
Ferrari took P2 and P3 on the grid for the Austrian GP, but the drivers are not sold on their win chances.
Despite claiming second and third on the grid at the Austrian Grand Prix, Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton feel a significant gap to Mercedes on track.
Leclerc had been set for a potential pole in the final moments of Q3, with Max Verstappen’s crash at Turn 9 bringing out the yellow flags in the closing moments, before George Russell took a dramatic pole.
Ferrari drivers lack win confidence despite high Austrian GP grid slots
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Verstappen’s accident had appeared to signal the end of competitive running in qualifying but, with Russell having kept his final lap going and being found to have sufficiently lifted under a single yellow flag, his lap was still good enough to put his Mercedes on pole come the end of the session.
The result was confirmed once the FIA’s list of deleted lap times did not contain Russell’s final effort, with the Ferrari duo having to make do with second and third on the grid instead.
Despite success last time out in Barcelona and a power unit upgrade in tow at the Red Bull Ring, Hamilton does not hold out hope for a race victory.
However, he believes that one silver lining for Ferrari is having both drivers in between the Mercedes pair of Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
“I think this weekend we’ve not been confident that we could fight for a win,” Hamilton said.
“These guys have been six tenths quicker than us most of the weekend.
“We closed the gap overnight three tenths, but we still are three tenths down today, or two-and-a-bit tenths down today, so it’s going to be very tough to challenge them tomorrow, but with a long run down to Turn 3, hopefully together we can.
“It’s great having Charles here as well, because we can hopefully work together in a strategy and try to apply pressure to them.”
Leclerc has been on the wrong end of Q3 drama in recent races, crashing in the final part of qualifying in both Monaco and Barcelona, but he recovered to take a place on the front row on Saturday.
More from qualifying day at the Austrian GP
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F1 Live: How the action unfolded in Austrian GP qualifying
Heading back to form at the right time, the Ferrari driver admitted a sigh of relief after a difficult run of qualifying sessions in particular.
“We had a big [upgrade] package, but everybody’s pushing like crazy to try and produce those upgrades as quickly as possible, and bring them to the track also as quickly as possible, and it’s definitely paying off, so that’s really good to see,” Leclerc said.
“My qualifying was quite tricky, honestly. The car on braking, I was really, really struggling quite a lot from Q1 to the last lap in Q3.
“I managed to do a bit of a better lap in Q3, which I’m happy of. I thought at one point that that I will have pole, but George was just too quick – but the first line [row] is good, especially after the last couple of races where the feeling wasn’t there in Canada and Monaco.
“In Barcelona, unfortunately, there was the technical issue that cost us a few more points, and to be back with a bit more of a normal weekend feels good. I needed that.”
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