Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari’s “operational excellence” was the key ingredient to their impressive qualifying result for the Austrian Grand Prix, calling it the team’s most best Saturday of the season so far.
Both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton put their Ferrari machines firmly in contention at the sharp end of the starting grid in Spielberg, with Leclerc lining up on the front row and Hamilton securing his best starting position of the year in fourth. While it was Lando Norris who dominated Q3 for McLaren by taking pole by over half a second, Ferrari’s execution and new upgrades delivered a breakthrough result.
Hamilton described the session as a significant leap forward, crediting not just the pace from Ferrari’s revised floor but the calm and clinical performance from the team on the pit wall and in the garage, as the team secured the best qualifying result in 2025.
Calm Approach and Upgrades Deliver for Ferrari
“We definitely made some progress overnight,” Hamilton said on Ferrari’s best qualifying result, reflecting on the step forward from Friday practice. “I’m much happier with the car in Q3 and with the direction we went. It was really positive.”
Hamilton believes he could have even joined his teammate on the front row if not for a late error in his fastest lap: “I’m edging closer in terms of performance of Charles, who’s really, really used to the car, he hardly ever changes anything, so that’s really positive.
“Also, I had more time in the lap. I was nearly three tenths up going into Turn 6 and I had a massive snap going in, and then I came across the line six tenths down. So that would have put me second.”
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Hamilton was full of praise for the team’s operations: “I think operationally the team did a really good job today. It’s the best qualifying process, operation that we’ve done.”
When pressed on what made the difference, Hamilton highlighted the work behind the scenes.
“Operationally, the guys in the garage always do an amazing job, but just how calm the guys were, the head engineers on the pit wall [were]. Their timing was spot on and when they got us into the pit lane, the gaps that have given us, staying out of the traffic management, not getting penalties for the traffic here, the turnarounds were just really well.”
Ferrari’s push for upgrades also played a part in the result. The team arrived in Austria with a heavily updated floor, and Hamilton believes it paid off.
“The guys, they’ve definitely been able to extract more from the floor. It was a really small but there’s degradation in floors, so a new floor is always a little bit better,” Hamilton said.
“And then on top of that, the step of improvement in performance and so I’m really thankful to the team back at the factory for the work they’ve been able to bring.”
An improving Hamilton
Hamilton also credited his increasing understanding of his Ferrari car, as he slowly gets to grips with the machine following his move from Mercedes.
“I’m slowly progressing, little by little,” Hamilton went on. “Every time I go to a track I’m driving a new type of car on that track, and I’m always shocked and surprised by the characteristics being so different to what I raced with before.
“So you’re kind of rushing to learn as quickly as you can to catch up to someone that’s used to driving this car, it’s like the back of their hand.
Hamilton’s and Leclerc’s performance means Ferrari will go into Sunday’s race with their best chance yet of challenging McLaren for victory. With calm execution and new upgrades finally delivering results, all eyes will be on the red cars when the lights go out in Spielberg.
