Ferrari returned to the podium in Austria with Charles Leclerc finishing third ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Given the technical package available and McLaren’s clear superiority, it was a positive result for the Scuderia. Jerome D’Ambrosio, who stepped in for the absent Fred Vasseur, expressed satisfaction with the weekend, emphasizing the effectiveness of the updates and the team’s overall performance.
A podium built in qualifying
“Looking at our weekend from Friday onward, we put everything together and maximized what we had,” said Jerome D’Ambrosio during the usual post-race press conference. “We brought a package that worked as expected, which is always important. We had a strong qualifying session and executed everything well, unlike in previous races. When Saturday goes well, Sunday becomes much easier.”
The Deputy Team Principal agreed with Lewis Hamilton’s view that the Austrian qualifying was one of the best of the year: “Definitely, I think the whole team feels the same. I believe we maximized what we had. In the end, it’s all about execution, team calmness, and small details. That’s all it takes. Sometimes you have to deal with unexpected situations. In Canada, for example, Lewis’s race didn’t go smoothly because of a groundhog on the track. But this weekend, the whole team is really happy with the result, especially because we managed to extract the most from what we had.”
Upgrades validated
Jerome D’Ambrosio then discussed the feedback from the new floor introduced in Austria: “It delivered what we expected; it’s a step forward. It’s an evolution of our current concept. There was no radical change in the car’s philosophy—it simply added a bit of aerodynamic load.” However, the Belgian refrained from giving any details about what’s still to come: “As for future developments, I obviously won’t reveal our plans for the next six months. We’re in a phase where we need to balance our approach between 2025 and 2026. We’ve been thinking about it since the beginning of the year. 2026 will bring major changes, but 2025 matters too and we want to improve. We need to balance both.”
However, changes aren’t limited to the car itself. In Canada, Lewis Hamilton mentioned his desire to encourage the team to do things differently, drawing on his experience at Mercedes—a team Jerome D’Ambrosio also came from. “That’s what we do,” the Deputy to Fred Vasseur explained. “We wake up, go to the factory, and talk about how to improve every single area of the team—from design to execution on track, from what feedback to give the drivers to how we support each other as a team. When Lewis arrived, we talked about all of this, just like we do with Charles. We hold regular meetings to discuss the best way to move forward,” Jerome D’Ambrosio concluded at the end of the Austrian Grand Prix.
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