Ferrari arrived at the Austrian Grand Prix hoping to build on Lewis Hamilton’s impressive victory in Spain, but instead left Spielberg with more questions than answers. While the power unit deficit once again proved costly, Hamilton suggested that another factor played an equally important role in the Scuderia’s disappointing race.
High expectations quickly fade
Following Ferrari’s breakthrough victory in Barcelona, optimism around the SF-26 had reached its highest level of the season. The team expected the Austrian Grand Prix to confirm the progress made with the latest upgrade package and hoped the first ADUO-assisted evolution of its power unit would narrow the gap to Mercedes and Red Bull even further.
Instead, the weekend in Styria painted a very different picture. Ferrari struggled throughout the event, slipping backwards compared to Barcelona and finding itself well behind its main rivals over race distance.
Ferrari slips to fourth-fastest team
The disappointing result came at a circuit where engine performance is one of the decisive factors, highlighting that Ferrari still has significant work to do with its 067/6 power unit.
Mercedes dominated the weekend, Red Bull showed clear signs of progress with Max Verstappen, and even McLaren managed to outperform Ferrari despite its own challenges.
Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line in fifth place as the highest-placed Ferrari, while Charles Leclerc endured a difficult afternoon on his way to eighth. The result exposed not only the limitations of Ferrari’s power unit but also several weaknesses in the overall SF-26 package.
It wasn’t only about engine performance
Throughout the race it became increasingly clear that Ferrari lacked straight-line speed, leaving both Hamilton and Leclerc unable to defend themselves against rivals powered by Mercedes and Red Bull engines.
However, Hamilton’s comments after the chequered flag suggested the engine was only part of the story. Speaking over team radio, the seven-time World Champion pointed instead to excessive tyre degradation—particularly in the high temperatures at the Red Bull Ring—as the biggest factor behind Ferrari’s lack of competitiveness.
Hamilton highlights tyre degradation
Race engineer Carlo Santi congratulated Hamilton after the race, saying: “P5, Lewis. Very well managed. It was a really tough race.”
The Briton replied: “That was a really tough race, guys. I told you the tyre degradation was going to be difficult to manage. It’s not the result we wanted, but great job on the pit stops. It looked okay at the beginning, but let’s keep pushing. We’ll take the points and come back stronger.”
Lewis Hamilton’s assessment suggests Ferrari’s disappointing Austrian Grand Prix cannot be blamed solely on the power unit deficit. While the lack of straight-line performance remains a major concern, the excessive tyre degradation experienced in hot conditions prevented the SF-26 from maintaining competitive race pace, ultimately turning what had been a promising weekend after qualifying into another frustrating result for the Scuderia.
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