Lewis Hamilton delivered the strongest qualifying performance of his relatively short Ferrari tenure at the Austrian Grand Prix, excluding Sprint qualifying sessions, which are considered separately in the championship standings.
For the first time since his highly publicized move from Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton secured a starting position on the second row of the grid, qualifying in P4 alongside the current drivers’ championship leader Oscar Piastri. His Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, claimed the position directly ahead of him following an impressive and technically excellent qualifying session for the Scuderia Ferrari team.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur will likely feel encouraged and somewhat relieved by the team’s clear progress after a challenging and somewhat inconsistent start to the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Fred Vasseur is facing significant pressure and scrutiny at Ferrari due to the very high expectations set at the beginning of the season, where the team aimed to contend seriously for both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. Although those championship ambitions now appear increasingly unrealistic and difficult to achieve, Ferrari responded quickly by rushing an upgrade package to their car for the Austrian Grand Prix, which has begun to show promising and noticeable improvements in overall performance and competitiveness.
Additionally, Ferrari is actively preparing a rear suspension upgrade, signaling their determination not to abandon or reduce their efforts with this year’s car despite the looming and significant regulatory changes set for the 2026 season, which will dramatically alter car design.
Nonetheless, Lewis Hamilton’s distinctive and unique driving style means he will continue to face challenges and difficulties with one persistent and troublesome issue in the Ferrari SF-25.
Lewis Hamilton’s driving technique ‘guaranteed’ to reveal Ferrari’s persistent rear locking problem
Motorsport journalist Mark Hughes, who was covering the Austrian Grand Prix for The Race, offered an in-depth and detailed analysis of Ferrari’s latest technical update and their progress compared to the championship leaders McLaren.
Mark Hughes explained that although Ferrari remained about half a second off the leading pace, the new floor design—including the canoe section, diffuser, floor edges, and aerodynamic vanes—represents a significant and complex technical advancement, and all available evidence points to it performing very well on track.
He suggested that once the new rear suspension upgrade is introduced, Ferrari could realistically re-establish themselves as the clear and undisputed second-best car on the Formula 1 grid, providing a more stable and reliable platform for the remainder of the 2025 season.
For now, Ferrari’s competitiveness against McLaren in race conditions seems to depend heavily on the car being easier on tyre degradation, which could open the door to strategic advantages during races, potentially allowing them to execute unconventional tyre strategies.
Lewis Hamilton was the fourth-fastest qualifier and nearly matched Charles Leclerc’s pace until he was hampered by the SF-25’s well-known and frustrating weakness—rear tyre locking under braking—which Hamilton’s late-braking style inevitably exposes, costing him precious and vital time on track.
Despite this limitation, the Ferrari displayed a balanced and manageable setup on race day, enough to keep it ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing car and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team cars.
However, Mark Hughes pointed out that McLaren’s car enjoyed a superior aerodynamic grip level, granting them a clear performance edge and making them more competitive on a wider range of circuits.
Lewis Hamilton already looking ahead to the 2026 Formula 1 season with Scuderia Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton made the high-profile decision to leave Mercedes after twelve seasons with the squad to pursue an eighth world championship with Scuderia Ferrari. Although he would have drawn confidence and motivation from Ferrari’s strong form at the end of the previous season, the Scuderia have not yet reached that competitive level again since his arrival earlier this year.
The upcoming 2026 Formula 1 season, featuring a complete and revolutionary overhaul of the technical regulations, presents a fresh and exciting opportunity for both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. With a clean regulatory slate, any of the 11 teams currently on the grid could emerge as legitimate championship contenders.
Ferrari has committed to addressing Lewis Hamilton’s ongoing and well-documented understeer problems with their 2026 car design, which should provide him with greater confidence during crucial qualifying laps and race situations throughout the season.
However, there are growing concerns and whispers within the paddock about Ferrari’s engine development program for 2026, as Mercedes and Audi are widely perceived to be ahead in power unit progress and technology. In the meantime, Lewis Hamilton will be hoping that Scuderia Ferrari continue to extract additional performance from the current SF-25 chassis, given there are still thirteen race weekends remaining in the 2025 calendar.
All attention now turns to whether Lewis Hamilton can finally end his current streak without a podium finish in Formula 1. Should he fail to reach the rostrum once again on Sunday, it will mark the longest such drought of his illustrious and decorated Formula 1 career.
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