Charles Leclerc knows that hope quickly proves futile in a difficult season with Ferrari, but the new floor the Scuderia brought to Austria does give some confidence in better times. His second place in qualifying underlines that.
Not that Leclerc came close to polesitter Lando Norris. That McLaren driver was another half a second faster. But Ferrari was ahead of Mercedes and the disappointing Red Bull.
“This season our qualification was precisely our weak point, so it’s nice to be on the first row once,” Leclerc said after qualifying. “Then I don’t have to fight forward so much. We start once at the front with the fast guys.”
That was the reality for Leclerc so far in 2025. Apart from his home race in Monaco, the Ferrari driver always had to put in a lot of work to make something of the races. “We normally fight for fifth place in qualifying, at most.”
“On Sunday we usually have a fast car. That gives me hope,” Leclerc was optimistic.
New floor seems to work
Many eyes at Ferrari are focused on the new floor this weekend. The big weakness of the car this year is in ride height. Ferrari cannot adjust the car low enough to get the optimal downforce out of the floor, because it touches the asphalt too much. In China, this even led to disqualification.
The first step towards a solution should be taken at the Red Bull Ring. A second is expected in Silverstone. Ferrari is also working on an improved rear suspension, also to further solve the problem with ride height and bouncing.
Leclerc did not want to confirm that the second update will indeed follow next week. “Nothing has been confirmed yet. But something is coming. I just don’t know when.”
Better than expected in slow corners
The Monegasque clearly saw where his new floor made the difference. “We are still losing it here in the fast corners, but we expected that. We lost less in the slower corners, we didn’t expect that,” he described the situation.
“But we are still learning what we can do with this floor. The data at least match the expectations.”
A step forward
“That doesn’t change the fact that the gap to Norris was big,” he remained realistic. “And we were a bit lucky that Oscar Piastri had a yellow flag in qualifying,” he pointed to the third place of the WK leader.
“Yet that update was apparently enough for second place. And it’s close together here,” said Leclerc, who then glanced at Norris next to him. “Except for Lando then.”
Leclerc spoke of a step forward, but remains cautious. “We only really know how much it makes a difference when we have had different circuits. But it’s going in the right direction. Hopefully I can put some pressure on the McLarens on Sunday. I will certainly do everything I can for that.”