Ferrari had a challenging Friday in Austria as both drivers, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, underwent their own set of challenges.
Going into the weekend, both drivers had a positive outlook while approaching the weekend in Austria; Leclerc acknowledged a challenging start to the 2025 season for the team. However, the Monegasque remained optimistic, hoping the team could “turn things around” with the new upgrades and potential to improve going into this weekend.
Hamilton felt “grateful” for the challenges, which helped build a solid foundation for the team. Like Leclerc, he hopes the upgrades will lead to unexpected success.
Dino Beganovic
Leclerc missed FP1 as Ferrari Academy and F2 driver Dino Beganovic drove his second FP1 session for the team since Bahrain.
After driving the SF-25 for the second time, the Swedish F2 driver stated in a press interview that he “felt on it straight away” following his FP1 session. He also praised the simulator, calling it a valuable tool that aided his preparation for the session.
Charles Leclerc
“Not really” is what Charles Leclerc had to say when asked if he was happy with his performance during the second free practice.
“I felt at ease on the track straight away, but not really at ease with the car and the way the car feels,” he told the print media pen.
After his return, Leclerc’s start to FP2 was nothing short of rocky as he lost the rear end of his car in Turn 3, and then went off the gravel in Turn 6, but his pace was good enough to land at P5 in the time sheets.
He believes that lap times are almost on par with those of larger teams such as McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull. However, the primary challenge is in qualifying, not the race itself on Sunday, as timing is critical for Saturday’s session.
Remaining uncertain about Saturday, he emphasized the importance of making an effort in “maximising qualifying.” As part of the upgrades implemented to support them this weekend, Leclerc mentioned that it’s working well for its intended purpose.
This performance can be fully assessed on Saturday and Sunday.
Lewis Hamilton
The morning started off challenging for Lewis Hamilton, who faced a “difficult and frustrating” issue with his gearbox. Despite this setback, he praised the mechanics for their quick and effective work in resolving the problem in time for the second practice session.
During the session, the British driver received a warning for allegedly impeding Kimi Antonelli at Turn 4, which raised a potential concern for the stewards. He communicated via radio to explain that he did not see Antonelli approaching and offered an apology for the mistake.
After assessing the qualifying times of himself and his teammate, Hamilton hopes to improve their performance, but he doesn’t anticipate their car being at the front of the grid.
“We can try and get a bit closer, but yeah, we won’t be at the front,” he quoted to the print media pen.
Regarding the new floor upgrades, he commented:
“They don’t necessarily improve our competitiveness.” This was clear from the results at the end of FP2, where he was almost a second behind, although he recognized the significance of the necessary upgrades.
How important are these new upgrades?
Ferrari’s strategy for this weekend centers around the new floor upgrades that have been introduced. Both drivers expressed enthusiasm during Thursday’s activities; however, after practice, they acknowledged that their race pace requires significant improvement to secure a spot in Q3 on Saturday.
While the team has consistently finished in the top 10 during qualifying sessions, Charles Leclerc recognizes that it can be challenging for them to overtake the drivers ahead. Qualifying remains a crucial time for the Scuderia team as it can make or break their race day.
