The F1 Austrian GP was the best Sunday result for Ferrari in 2025, finishing P3 and P4; however, ir came with complaints from Lewis Hamilton over the radio. The team’s deputy director, Jerome d’Ambrosio, came out in defense of the team’s strategic decisions.
The British driver was insistent on looking to pull off a one-stop, but his race engineer Riccardo Adami and Ferrari were not interested in it.
Optimal decisions, but not for everyone
For the Italian team, the decisions made during the F1 Austrian GP followed the directions of the weekend and served the best interests of all involved.
As d’Ambrosio stated, they tried the optimal strategy for the situation.
“No, I think it was more a question of a matter of setting, so staying a few more laps. In the end, you know, it’s nothing out of the norm. What we tried to do as a team was to, Austria is very much like that, you try to do your optimal strategy.”
The objective during the F1 Austrian GP was to optimise race time for both Ferrari drivers. The situation didn’t allow for any different plan, as McLaren had too much pace for them, with George Russell of Mercedes way too slow to be a threat.
“So, you know, you try to optimise your race time and that’s what we did with both drivers. To be honest, there was no incentive in doing anything different because McLaren’s were clearly far ahead and George quite far behind.”
For the former F1 and Formula E driver, the strategy was necessary, considering both cars were positioned between the start and finish of the race; there was no room for anything else.
“So, we were in between them with both cars and we just did a standard optimal strategy and that was the most straightforward thing to do.”
Drivers must question whether everything is right
Formula One drivers have different senses and must question each decision. They’re the ones racing behind the helmet; they need to question, and that’s what they do, d’Ambrosio clarified.
“From a driver’s perspective, you question always is it the best, is it the best for, can we do something else? The racers, they’re Formula One drivers, that’s what they should do and that’s what they do.”
Jerome d’Ambrosio understood Lewis Hamilton’s complaints, but in the end, an image means more than words.
“But in the end, just so Lewis now and you look at the numbers and yeah, that’s what made sense.”
Driving progress: The team’s commitment to growth
Jerome d’Ambrosio explained that since Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari F1 arrival, they have had numerous discussions focused on continuous improvement. These conversations revolve around enhancing every aspect of the team, from engineering to race execution, aiming to move forward together.
“Well I mean I’ve been in the team now since October and Lewis has been in the team since January, so we’ve had a lot of discussions, you know.
“How can one improve and this is what we do, we wake up, we go to the factory and say how can I improve, how can we be better on every area of the team, from engineering to execution on the track, to what feedback we can give to the drivers, how can we help one another as a team to move forward and that’s true in every single area of the team.”
Jerome d’Ambrosio emphasised that when he joined the team, they thoroughly discussed these topics, just as they do with Charles Leclerc, who also brings extensive experience.
He highlighted that the team holds regular meetings to determine the best ways to move forward collaboratively.
“So when he came with Lewis we for sure we discussed all of that and we discussed in the same way with Charles, who’s also got an extensive experience and and we discussed as a team, we have regular meetings to discuss these things on how to best move forward.”
