Lewis Hamilton admits Ferrari lacks pace but sees strategic chance to fight for Austrian GP win. Lewis Hamilton explains why Ferrari’s best hope of victory is strategy at the Red Bull Ring.

The British champion secured third place in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring.

Ferrari back in contention

While Max Verstappen’s crash prevented Mercedes from fully showing its true pace, Ferrari made a clear step forward compared to Friday’s running at the Red Bull Ring.

After abandoning his first Q3 attempt because of a mistake, Lewis Hamilton found himself in the difficult position of having just one final lap to secure the best possible starting position on the grid.

The British driver will line up third on Sunday, behind pole-sitter George Russell and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, who was just 0.059 seconds quicker. Hamilton welcomed the result during his post-qualifying interviews, especially considering where Ferrari had been at the start of the weekend.

Lewis Hamilton’s analysis for Sky UK

“Can we fight for the win? In pure pace, no. The Mercedes has been very quick. But maybe with strategy there is an opportunity. I think winning is a tall order, so we have to maximise the points for the team and try to keep one of the Mercedes behind us if we can. If we can keep both of them behind, that would be fantastic.

“We’ve done a really good job this weekend because yesterday we were quite a long way off and didn’t really understand why. But we made some changes and managed to close the gap. Unfortunately, my first lap in Q3 wasn’t perfect, but to be up there at the front is great. Hopefully we can stay in the fight.”