Charles Leclerc says Ferrari is heading “in the right direction” after podium finish in Austria

Charles Leclerc congratulated Ferrari for the very good work accomplished with the upgrades brought to the SF-25 this weekend in Austria, which allowed the team to return to the podium.

Ferrari had introduced a new floor on the car in the hope of reviving a season marked by inconsistent results.

A new podium for Charles Leclerc

Qualified between the two McLarens, Charles Leclerc quickly conceded 2nd place to Oscar Piastri in the first corner, before securing 3rd position until the finish.

Looking back on his departure, the Ferrari driver explained: “I wasn’t planning to try anything in turn 1, it’s not really a place where you can overtake here. I had a good start, I was side by side with Oscar, but I had to brake early. He passed me on the outside, there wasn’t much I could do. Honestly, even if I had stayed 2nd, I think I would have been overtaken quickly. The McLarens were just too fast today.”

Despite everything, Charles Leclerc was encouraging about the car’s potential. « The team has done an excellent job with these developments. We are moving in the right direction, but we still lack a bit of pace », he explains.

To the question of whether Ferrari finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel, he replied: I hope so! This weekend proves it: we’re making progress. But we must be cautious in our assessment. The new parts work as expected, but we have to wait two or three more races to fully judge our level.

A fourth position for Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton, his teammate at Ferrari, finished just behind, in 4th place. He also highlighted the positive aspects of the weekend.

« I’m making progress little by little, it’s very encouraging. We were the second-best team this weekend, and we finished less than 30 seconds behind the winner, which is already a big step forward », he said.

The Briton, however, pointed out some persistent limitations. « I’m still struggling a lot with the car’s balance in race conditions. Too much understeer in slow corners, too much oversteer in fast ones – and I couldn’t do anything with the available settings. »

« In addition, we still have brake issues, I had to manage them throughout the race, which made me lose time. But we take note of the progress. »

Thanks to this result, Ferrari retakes 2nd place in the constructors’ championship with a one-point lead over Mercedes, which scored no points after Kimi Antonelli retired on the first lap.