Leclerc and Hamilton hail Ferrari new parts that "made a difference"

As a result, Leclerc and Hamilton will start from P2 and P4, respectively, after qualifying for Round 11 of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship on Sunday. One may call it a lucky one for Leclerc, because Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen missed out on their final runs in Q3 after Pierre Gasly lost his way in the Alpine. The yellow flag he prompted was brief but enough to impact the Australians' final lap.

While the Ferrari appears to lack ultimate Qualifying speed, they do enjoy good race pace, and the Red Bull Ring might be the best chance for a Red victory so far this year in a Grand Prix. Apart from Lewis Hamilton's Chinese Sprint Race victory, Ferrari have not won since Carlos Sainz triumphed in Mexico last year.

Speaking after today's Qualifying session in Spielberg, Leclerc said: "I'm very pleased. It's been a long time since we started on the front row. It's been a difficult season overall but the team have kept pushing. We've brought some new parts this weekend, which for sure made a difference because the gaps are super close.

"I'm very happy with the lap. It's a good start to the weekend. We know that we have a better car normally in the race than in qualifying, so I hope we can put a bit more pressure on McLaren in the race.

"I can't imagine Lando's lap with our car, but we are going to work towards that. It's not to minimise Lando's job. He must have done an incredible job. Congrats to him. He deserves it. We'll try to bring him a tough time," warned Leclerc, who is hunting his ninth Grand Prix victory on the occasion of his 158th F1 start.

In the #44 Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton will line up P4 on the grid behind his teammate. The Briton, by his own admission, is still ill at ease in the Ferrari SF25. Although he was less than a tenth down on his teammate, the Qualy score is 8-3 to the Monegasque.

Summing up his session today, Hamilton reported: "Slowly progressing. Little by little. Every time I go to a track, I’m driving a new type of car on that track, and I’m always shocked by how different it feels compared to what I’ve raced before.

"So you're kind of rushing to learn as quickly as you can, trying to catch up to someone who's used to driving this car like the back of their hand. We had an upgrade this weekend, which has been really positive.

"The team did a fantastic job throughout qualifying in terms of positioning and everything. It felt like, operationally, we were the best we've ever been. I'm really happy with that," added Hamilton, who last won a Grand Prix in Belgium last year.

Team principal Fred Vasseur summed it all up in the team report on Satruday evening: "Qualifying went well for us, everything went smoothly. Right from FP3 and then from the beginning of Q1 we were on the pace and were able to put a good lap on the board. That is very important."

Vasseur continued: "If you don’t get a good first lap in the first part, you have to use another set of tyres and that puts you on the back foot for the rest of your qualifying. We did the same in Q2, so we arrived in Q3 with two sets of new Softs.

"As I said before, the key is to have a clean weekend. It’s true that our upgrade helped today, even if it should be measured in hundredths of a second rather than tenths, but I believe it’s more about our execution. Still, Lando was on another planet today.

"As for the race, we always knew it would get much hotter on Sunday, which means the race will be all about tyre management. On the other hand, you can overtake here so you don’t have to be too worried about when to make your pit stops, as it is possible to gain back position.

"Yesterday, our long stint pace was good, so tomorrow, with DRS being very effective here it will be important to be able to use it well," added Vasseur.

Ferrari is in the 2025 F1 World Championship standings , sitting third in the constructors' standings with 183 points, trailing McLaren (374 points) and Mercedes (199 points). Charles Leclerc holds fifth in the drivers' championship with 104 points, while Lewis Hamilton is sixth with 79 points.