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.
“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,” he added.
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.
