Hamilton finally finds joy in red, a Glimpse of Progress at Ferrari – After months of frustration and unfulfilled potential, Lewis Hamilton finally has reason to smile in scarlet. At the Red Bull Ring, the seven-time world champion achieved his best qualifying result yet as a Ferrari driver, securing fourth place on the grid for the Austrian Grand Prix — a performance that, for once, was free from disappointment and disillusionment.
Although Charles Leclerc once again outperformed him, securing second place just as he did in Monaco, the gap between the Ferrari teammates was a mere 0.090 seconds. This closeness was enough for Hamilton to declare a breakthrough. And this time, he meant it.
Signs of progress at last!
“We definitely made progress overnight, and I’m much happier with the car,” Hamilton told reporters after qualifying. ‘The direction we’ve gone in has been really positive. I think we’re closer to Charles in terms of performance. He knows the car inside out and hardly changes anything. That’s really positive.’
Hamilton’s optimism wasn’t purely based on numbers. He believed he had even more pace to unleash. On his final flying lap, he was already three tenths of a second up on his personal best as he approached Turn 6 — a fast left-handed bend that penalises the slightest instability. But then came the twist: ‘I had a heavy sideways slide,’ he admitted. ‘That lost me time. That would have put me in second place.”
Data from F1 Tempo later confirmed that, although he was fractionally slower through Turn 6 than on his earlier laps, this was not where the bulk of his advantage slipped away. Instead, it was the final two corners at the Red Bull Ring — tricky braking zones and traction tests — that proved his undoing. This didn’t dampen Hamilton’s mood, however. On the contrary, he praised the team for executing what he described as their most seamless qualifying session of the season.
Ferrari flawless in execution
“That was the best performance so far,” he beamed. “Everyone was calm and relaxed today. The timing was also perfect. The gaps to the other cars were good and the traffic management was superb. It was just spot on.”
While the performance may not have yielded a front-row start, Hamilton is a veteran of the sport and is well-versed in the art of damage limitation. ‘I’ve been in this business for so long,’ he said, waving off any disappointment. ‘Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I’m grateful that we’re at least on the second row. Most of the time, our car performs better in the race than in qualifying.’
The elusive Ferrari podium
That last statement carries weight. Since switching to Ferrari at the start of the season, Hamilton’s Sundays have often promised more than they delivered. His only success so far came in a sprint race, not a Grand Prix. Starting from fourth place, he is poised to make a serious bid for his first Ferrari podium — a milestone that fans and critics alike have been waiting to see.
‘It almost feels like that thing with the 900 days without a win,’ Hamilton joked, referring to the drought of victories he endured. ‘But hopefully it won’t take another 900 days to get on the podium!’
However, he quickly tempered expectations, as if wary of jinxing the moment. ‘In recent races, I’ve always said: Yes, I can’t wait to get back on the podium. So I’m not going to say that anymore. I’d rather let my actions speak for themselves.’
McLaren Still the Benchmark in Austria
Even as Hamilton reflects on Ferrari’s modest gains, he acknowledges the significant performance gap between them and the outright pace-setters. McLaren’s form at Spielberg has been “impressive”, in his words. In particular, the data shows that McLaren are hitting velocities in the medium-speed corners — notably Turns 6 and 7 — that Ferrari simply cannot match.
“They are almost ten km/h faster through those corners,” he admitted. “There’s no way I can go ten km/h faster through those two corners. They obviously have an incredibly fast car here.”
This is a sobering reminder that, even though Ferrari has improved, the road to victory remains treacherous. Nevertheless, Hamilton appeared anything but defeated. For the first time in a while, he seems to feel that he’s part of a team that’s making real progress.
What the new underbody means
Much of Ferrari’s progress in Austria is attributed to a new underbody package. The Maranello engineers arrived in Spielberg hoping that the updates would finally unlock the SF-25’s potential — and it seems they have done just that.
Hamilton was cautiously optimistic. “It was a really small step,” he said. ‘Firstly, a new underbody makes a difference because the old one is worn out — a new one is always slightly better. On top of that, there’s an actual performance step.”
However, he stressed that F1 development is rarely linear. ‘It’s definitely a slow process. There are still many things that need improving so that we can achieve this consistently, weekend after weekend.”
Still not one with the car
The 39-year-old is brutally honest about his relationship with the SF-25. While the signs are encouraging, he admits that he is still far from being fully in sync with his machinery.
“Every time I come to a track, the car’s character is completely different,” he explained. ‘When I started driving on Friday, I thought, “Damn, this is so different from what I drove here last year. You’d be surprised how differently you have to set everything up, and how differently you have to manoeuvre the car through the corners.”
Yet there’s light at the end of the tunnel. “In terms of set-up, I’m finally getting much closer to being able to set the car up the way I want,” he said. ‘That’s why I was as fast as I could be in qualifying. So it’s small steps, but I’m confident we can continue like this.”
FIA changes rules to favour Red Bull
More Than a Result — A Turning Point?
For a man who’s spent the past year recalibrating his expectations, this weekend in Austria could be the start of a genuine improvement. While Hamilton’s time at Ferrari has so far been filled with more questions than answers, Saturday’s performance offered something different: clarity.
It wasn’t just about pace or position. It was about feeling in control, being in tune with the car and believing that things are moving in the right direction.
The podium remains elusive. But, for the first time in a red car, Lewis Hamilton is starting to sound like he belongs.
MORE F1 NEWS – Bizarre admission from Wolff over Russell new deal
As Formula One arrived in the Styrian hills this weekend in Austria, the talk of the paddock was the lack of a new contract for George Russell. The British driver has been with the Mercedes driver programme for around a decade and served his F1 apprenticeship with Williams from 2019 to 2021.
There was talk late in 2020 that Russell may move up to replace Valtteri Bottas alongside Lewis Hamilton, but the seven times world champion was vocal in his support for his Finnish team mate. With Hamilton going dark after his failure to claim the record eighth drivers championship, Mercedes moved over the winter to offer George the second seat at Mercedes AMG F1.
Far from being intimidated by his legendary team mate, Russell claimed his maiden F1 victory in 2022 at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and eclipsed Hamilton in the final driver standings in Abu Dhabi. As Hamilton’s woes worsened with the new ground effect cars, Russell appeared unfazed by the situation at Mercedes and before Lewis…READ MORE ON THIS STORY
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