It wasn’t the easiest Friday of the season for the Prancing Horse, affected by several issues, including a gearbox problem on Hamilton’s car that delayed the day’s program and forced the team to condense their work into the afternoon session. However, there are encouraging signs, with Leclerc among the fastest in the race pace simulation.
A more chaotic Friday than expected prevented Ferrari from fully assessing its potential at the Spielberg circuit. FP1 complicated the team’s plans, with Charles Leclerc sidelined (his car was entrusted to Dino Beganovic) and Lewis Hamilton plagued by gearbox problems that eventually forced the team to replace the entire transmission before FP2. The work program was therefore condensed into the afternoon session, which provided the first feedback on the new floor introduced in Austria.
In the qualifying simulation, Leclerc placed fifth in a time sheet open to various interpretations. He was behind Lance Stroll but ahead of George Russell. The most significant figure was the three-tenths gap to Verstappen and the more than half a second that separated him from leader Norris by the end of the day. These are substantial gaps, but equally important will be the work Ferrari’s engineers carry out before FP3 after analyzing the initial data from the new floor.
“I hope, or I believe, that McLaren was running low fuel as they usually do in FP2 and FP3,” said team principal Frederic Vasseur. “We followed our usual program. We’ll calmly analyze the data this evening—it’s the first time we’re using this floor. We ran some comparative tests to make a comparison between the two cars, we’ll evaluate tonight and make the necessary decisions for tomorrow.”
An encouraging sign came from the race simulations completed in FP2. Charles Leclerc’s pace (on medium tires) was the fourth fastest overall, behind the McLaren duo and the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli. Hamilton (running on softs) also completed a fairly fast run, recording the fifth best simulation despite only doing six laps.
“I got into the car for the first time today during the second session,” commented Charles, “and I immediately felt comfortable, but I can’t say I’m fully satisfied yet with the feeling with the car. As usual, our race pace is good, but we need to work a bit on improving in qualifying trim, so we can start further up the grid and fight at the front on Sunday.”
For Hamilton, Friday was overall more complicated than expected. “We lost some time during FP1 due to a gearbox issue, which set us back a bit. The second session went better, but we’re still not where we want to be in terms of pace. There’s still work to do: we’ll continue looking for the right setup tonight with the team.”
Speculation about Frederic Vasseur’s future as Ferrari team principal continues to be one of the talking points in the paddock. Rumors that are not the best companions for the team, but Vasseur was keen to stress that within the team, there is a clear desire not to be influenced by outside noise. “We’re trying to stay focused on the work we need to do. When you go into a race weekend, it’s very important to stay concentrated, and teamwork is essential—and so far, we’re doing well.”
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