In Austria, Lewis Hamilton secured a fourth-place finish, nine seconds behind teammate George Russell, but highlighted some positive aspects, especially in qualifying pace. However, during the race he struggled with balance issues, particularly understeer, and persistent brake problems — an issue he has previously flagged and continues pushing the team to solve.
Once again, Lewis Hamilton lacked the pace to match Charles Leclerc, especially on a track that exposed one of his biggest weaknesses: a lack of confidence in certain types of fast corners. Still, there were improvements, especially in qualifying, where a small error at Turn 6 potentially cost him a front-row start.
In the race, such issues become harder to manage — especially at a high-degradation circuit like the Red Bull Ring. The soft tyre compounds, traction zones, and long corners, combined with aggressive tarmac, put significant thermal stress on the tyres.
Lewis Hamilton experienced understeer throughout the race and admitted post-race that while he’s getting closer in qualifying, he’s still suffering over long stints — particularly from tyre degradation and overall balance problems.
This ultimately ruled him out of the fight with his Maranello teammate. The two Ferrari drivers, who held a clear advantage over the rest of the field — with Mercedes finishing over half a minute behind — had a lonely race without major incidents. For Lewis Hamilton, the only real battle was at the start against George Russell, a duel he won but which proved to be his only moment of close racing.
“I had a great fight with George at the start, which I won, from Turn 1 to Turn 6. I managed to hold on around the outside, which was really great. After that, the car didn’t feel too bad. I was able to hold on for a bit, but then I really struggled with the balance,” the seven-time world champion said as he reflected on the early stages of the Grand Prix.
Like his teammate, Lewis Hamilton had to manage brake temperatures right from the beginning. At the Red Bull Ring, managing temperatures is always critical — both for the power unit and the braking system.
After the race, the Briton emphasized that he’s been asking for changes to the brakes for some time, calling it a long-standing issue: “We’ve got brake problems, so I had to manage them from the early stages, and that definitely cost me some time. It’s something I’m really pushing to get fixed, because it’s far from ideal.” – he pointed out.
Back at the Imola weekend, Lewis Hamilton had already voiced his frustrations with the brakes, describing them as a lottery. In certain situations, they worked fine, but in others they completely ruined his feel for the car. “You roll the dice — one set works, another one doesn’t,” he had said at the time.
This weekend, Ferrari established itself as the second-fastest team, especially compared to a Red Bull that suffered in the heat, failed to complete a second qualifying attempt, and retired from the race. It’s a key concern for a team seeking more consistent performance and fighting for second place in the Constructors’ Championship: “First of all, I think as a team we’ve made progress and that’s great to see. Thanks to everyone, I’m really grateful. I think it’s a positive step forward,” said Lewis Hamilton at the end of the Austrian Grand Prix – “This weekend, we were the second-fastest team. Third and fourth place is a strong result. There are plenty of positives to take from this weekend and also many areas to work on. Qualifying went better.”
“We found a problem I had on my qualifying lap, which cost me nearly a tenth. I need to improve my race pace — that’s crucial.” Hamilton admitted that despite closing the gap to Leclerc in qualifying, he’s still far behind in terms of race pace and setup: “No, I still lost a lot — something like eight or nine seconds to Charles.”
Leave a Reply