Ferrari’s lack of pace even surprised Antonelli and Russell: “They were really slow. I was 30 km/h faster”
Ferrari arrived at the Austrian Grand Prix hoping to build on its impressive victory in Barcelona, but the race at the Red Bull Ring unfolded in a completely different way. Instead of fighting for another win, the Scuderia struggled throughout the afternoon, with Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth and Charles Leclerc slipping to eighth after a difficult race.
Although Ferrari had shown encouraging pace in qualifying by locking out the second row alongside George Russell, the SF-26 never looked capable of matching either the Mercedes drivers or Max Verstappen once the race settled into its rhythm. As the laps went by, the two Ferraris steadily lost ground, finishing 26 seconds and 45 seconds behind the race winner respectively.
Perhaps the most worrying aspect of Ferrari’s performance was the clear straight-line speed deficit compared to the Mercedes-powered cars. That weakness became evident in almost every battle involving the SF-26, whether against Mercedes or McLaren, with Ferrari repeatedly struggling to defend on the straights.
Russell and Antonelli surprised by Ferrari’s lack of speed
Ferrari’s lack of performance even caught the attention of the Mercedes drivers after the race. While watching the highlights together in the cooldown room before the podium ceremony, George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli openly discussed just how much Ferrari had struggled.
“They didn’t have much pace,” George Russell commented while reviewing the race.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli went even further in his assessment.
“They were really slow, and their energy deployment was really strange. I nearly hit Leclerc into Turn 1 because of the speed difference. I was about 30 km/h faster.”
Those remarks may not be well received in Maranello, but they also underline what appears to be Ferrari’s biggest weakness at this stage of the 2026 Formula 1 season: the power unit.
Ferrari’s power unit remains the main concern
Despite introducing its first ADUO-related power unit upgrade for the Austrian Grand Prix, Ferrari was still unable to close the performance gap to Mercedes in race conditions. While the revised engine package appears to have delivered a modest step forward, it was nowhere near enough to erase the deficit in acceleration and top speed.
The comments from Russell and Antonelli reinforce what telemetry analysis had already suggested throughout the weekend. Ferrari remains highly competitive through many corners thanks to the strengths of the SF-26 chassis and aerodynamic package, but once the cars reach full throttle, Mercedes continues to enjoy a significant advantage.
With another ADUO upgrade expected later in the season, Ferrari will hope the next phase of its engine development can finally address the straight-line weakness that was exposed so clearly in Austria. Until then, the Scuderia may continue to find itself vulnerable whenever races become battles of acceleration and top speed rather than cornering performance.
