F1: Ferrari Stepping Up the Pace At Austria Gran Prix
Lewis Hamilton now believes that Ferrari has made a big step forward this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix. He says that the Mercedes team is taking the threat very seriously and will have to work hard to stay on top.
Mr. Hamilton finished 2nd behind teammate Nico Rosberg in the 1st free practice session on Friday, but failed to hook up a lap in FP2 and eventually faded to 4th place by the end of day.
The British driver is chasing his 1st win in Austria this weekend, and believes that Mercedes is making good progress with the car setup and developments.
“It’s been an okay start,” Hamilton said. “Not the best but not the worst either. I had a bit of oversteer here and there but generally the car feels great and we definitely made improvements from P1 to P2.
“There’s just not a lot of grip out there on track and I didn’t put a full lap together. I had some good sectors and was a few tenths up on a couple of laps, so the pace is there. I was pushing hard and learning with every lap. If you’re not making mistakes you’re not trying hard enough.”
The 2nd practice session was topped by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, and Mr. Hamilton believes that Italian team does have the pace to challenge Mercedes at Austria.
“I’m not sure how our pace looks relative to the others,” Mr. Hamilton said. “I haven’t seen the data but Ferrari looked quick and it’s definitely closer here than at other circuits.
“We’re always aware of the threat from our rivals and we take it seriously every race. Hopefully it’ll all come together tomorrow.”
Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 15.684s, P20/1m 09.600s, P1
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 11.028s, P3/1m 09.860s, P3
Ferrari ended the day feeling up, it is the 1st time all of their recent aerodynamic and engine upgrades all started to work together as they were able to challenge Mercedes on genuine pace. But tempering that were 2 gearbox issues for Mr. Vettel. The 1st was of undisclosed nature, while the 2nd was a sensor that put the system into alert mode. He said he needs a flawless weekend to beat the Silver Arrows, so it will be interesting to see whether the lost track time ultimately proves a handicap. Mr. Raikkonen looked stronger on the soft tires, but struggled more on the supersoft and destroyed a set with a massive lock-up into Turn 1.
Mercedes
Nico Rosberg, 1m 10.401s, P1/m 09.611s, P2
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 10.709s, P2/1m 10.137s, P5
Mercedes had an interesting day. Mr. Rosberg was generally their pacesetter as Mr. Hamilton had a tough time and was never able to do a full lap on the supersofts after being fastest on the softs in FP2. The nature of the track has closed the gaps between the cars, but the signs are that Ferrari have taken a big step forward. Tomorrow will reveal whether this is genuine, or because Mercedes were battling for grip Friday.
Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix is live on NBCSN and Live Extra from 8:00a EDT on Sunday.
Enjoy the racing.
Paul Ebeling
HeffX-LTN
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