Beneath the sweltering sunshine that bathes the Styrian mountains surrounding the Red Bull Ring there is at least a breeze of anticipatory air for the Austrian Grand Prix. After the opening to a Formula One season defined by Mercedes dominance, that Ferrari may now be applying their own heat is welcome, more so given it is Lewis Hamilton firing it up.
Hamilton’s victory at the last round in Barcelona, his first for Ferrari and the Scuderia’s first since 2024, was greeted by driver and team with understandable exultation; the seven-time champion has gone from his worst season last year to a potential championship contender.
Hamilton knows it is premature to consider thoughts of a record eighth title and is not doing so. Yet whether he and Ferrari really do have a dog in this fight will be the most fascinating aspect of this weekend in Spielberg.
In Barcelona, Ferrari brought eight aerodynamic upgrades to their car, their biggest developments and they proved enormously effective. The circuit and the strategy and indeed the heat played a part, as did a safety car, but the striking fact was that the Ferrari was all but on a par with the Mercedes, whose Kimi Antonelli currently leads the championship from Hamilton by 41 points.
Ferrari’s SF26, in its upgraded configuration, demonstrated it was a serious package, hugely impressive through the corners and crucially now also less punishing on the tyres as a result of new wheel rims. As the defending world champion, McLaren’s Lando Norris, noted, “if they had a better engine they’re dominating”. In Austria they should boast a better engine.
With the new engines employed this season, the governing body, the FIA, and F1 agreed to the wonderfully named “Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities” rule (Aduo). It is arcane but, as ever in F1, vital. In order to mitigate against teams being left behind with an engine that is off the pace, an assessment was to be made in the opening races and a sliding scale of upgrades then permitted according to how far each manufacturer fell from what was considered the benchmark engine.
The Red Bull engine was assessed to be the top-performing machinery – a decision still questioned by Red Bull, understandably given the superiority of the Mercedes. However, the measurement considers only the internal combustion engine output not the electrical element of the power unit. There is scant room for complaint here given it was a methodology that was agreed by teams and engine manufacturers.
In the interim, with Aduo a goer, Ferrari were considered to be more than 4% off the Red Bull benchmark, entitling it to two engine upgrades this season, with Mercedes between 2% and 4%, giving it one. Eyebrows have been raised as to why Ferrari were ready with an engine upgrade so soon after the engine assessment was announced on race day in Monaco, the intimation being they were gaming the system.
Politics aside, other factors also are at play in Austria. It is understood Ferrari’s first engine upgrade is to be combined with a new fuel formula from the supplier, Shell, an element previously posited by senior F1 players as one of the potential differentiators under the new regulations.
In Austria, the Ferrari engine technical director, Enrico Gualtieri, played down the expected engine impact, saying it was not a big step, with the more significant engine advance now expected to be deployed in their second upgrade set, for after the summer break.
Yet he knows, as does Hamilton, that how the Ferrari handles the Red Bull Ring is key. With three long straights and a sequence of medium and high-speed corners, in what will probably be temperatures of around 34C, with the thin mountainous air also a test for the Scuderia’s engine and its smaller turbo, if they come out on top here it is very much game on.
Hamilton was, of course, upbeat after his win in Barcelona, hopeful of more to come but noticeably in Austria his teammate Charles Leclerc, who has had poor luck in the last two races, was equally bullish. “The team is in a very good place,” he said. “To see so much innovation on our car and to see the people back at the factory push so much production-wise, to keep bringing new upgrades, that is a good sign – it’s really nice to also see that it’s paying off on track with the performance and us getting closer to Mercedes.”
The season then hangs in an intriguing balance that may yet take many races to play out as the advantage swings. McLaren had it with their upgrade with a double podium in Miami, Mercedes once more were on top in Canada and Ferrari in Barcelona. There is a development war here and for all that Mercedes have commanded thus far, Hamilton and Ferrari are on the march.
In first practice, nonetheless, Mercedes led the way at the Red Bull Ring, with Antonelli just up on his teammate George Russell. Max Verstappen was in fourth place with Red Bull hopeful of a major step forward having brought a comprehensive upgrade package to Austria. Hamilton was in fifth, with Leclerc sitting it out to allow the rookie Dino Beganovic to drive and he finished ninth.
In the second session Antonelli was once more on top from the two McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Norris. Verstappen was in fourth, with Hamilton fifth.
