Leclerc qualifies second despite Ferrari being 'lost' in Austrian GP practice

Charles Leclerc admitted he had no expectation of outpacing McLaren heading into Saturday qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix, after Ferrari spent most of Friday’s practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg looking thoroughly lost.

Leclerc, who missed FP1 entirely after ceding his upgraded SF-26 to rookie Dino Beganovic, reported four-wheel sliding through the circuit’s faster corners during FP2 in searing heat. Yet by the end of qualifying, he had taken second place — 0.236 seconds behind Mercedes poleman George Russell — with team-mate Lewis Hamilton slotting in third. Ferrari also outpaced McLaren by a tenth and a half, reversing Friday’s competitive order entirely.

“It’s very strange because yesterday was a very tough day for the team,” Leclerc said. “We were struggling a lot as a team and today we took a big step forward. We did not expect to be in front of the McLarens particularly and close to Mercedes, so that’s a good surprise.”

Leclerc attributed the turnaround to a series of incremental setup changes rather than any single fix. “We changed quite a lot, actually. Not big steps, but a little bit everywhere. It ended up being quite a big difference.”

Despite the result, Leclerc acknowledged he is still not fully comfortable with the car following a switch to Hamilton’s brake configuration in Barcelona after Monaco. “In qualifying, I didn’t feel as confident as I’ve been in the past where I just go all in and I know exactly what the car is going to do,” he said. “This is not the feeling that I have at the moment. And this is where I want to focus on.”

Hamilton, who qualified three tenths behind Russell, was measured in his assessment of Ferrari’s prospects for the race. “These guys have been six tenths quicker than us most of the weekend,” the seven-time world champion said of Mercedes. “We closed the gap overnight to three tenths. But we still are three tenths down today, so it’s going to be very tough to challenge them tomorrow.”

Ferrari’s grid positions were also aided by Kimi Antonelli mistakenly aborting his final qualifying lap in the second Mercedes, removing what could have been a fourth-row threat from their immediate picture. Leclerc, however, remained cautious about race-day ambitions. “Whether this will be enough to challenge Mercedes, I doubt so. But if there’s an opportunity, I will do everything to take it.”