Hamilton Lauds Ferrari’s ‘World-Class’ Qualifying at Austrian Grand Prix

SPIELBERG: Following Charles Leclerc’s second-place finish and his own fourth-place result on the starting grid, Lewis Hamilton commended Ferrari’s performance at the Austrian Grand Prix qualifying session on Saturday, calling it ‘world-class’. Lando Norris of McLaren secured pole position.

This result marks Ferrari’s best qualifying performance of the season, a feat they previously achieved in Monaco.

Ferrari’s improved performance is attributed to the introduction of a newly designed floor, which represents the first significant upgrade to their vehicle since the Bahrain race held in April.

Hamilton lauded his team’s execution, hailing the result as superb and referring to the overall performance as ‘world-class’.

“The team has put in a tremendous amount of effort at the factory, providing us with a new floor for this weekend. It’s a fantastic result,” Hamilton stated.

“My final lap wasn’t flawless. I believe securing second place would have been within reach had I completed it perfectly. There are several positives we can extract from that session.”

“Operationally, it was the best day, particularly during qualifying. The team’s operation, including the timings and information regarding track positioning and traffic, was truly exceptional and world-class.”

Having transitioned from Mercedes to Ferrari this season, Hamilton is still aiming to elevate his performance, as he has gone without a podium finish for the past 12 races.

Ferrari, who finished as runners-up last year, currently holds the third position in the standings, trailing behind McLaren and Mercedes.

Hamilton, who was a mere 0.09 seconds behind Leclerc, expressed his belief that he could have secured second place with an improved final lap.

“My last lap wasn’t perfect, I think that could have been, if I had finished that, would have been second,” Hamilton continued.

“So there’s lots of positives to take out from that session.

“Also I think it has been the best day, operationally, particularly through qualifying, how the team operated, just timings, the information we are getting in terms of traffic and positionings on track, it was the best, it was proper world class. That is what we are working towards.”