Charles Leclerc has offered an early reality check on Ferrari's prospects of fighting for victory at the Austrian Grand Prix, admitting that after Friday’s running he is "not so confident" the Scuderia can repeat its Barcelona triumph – while stressing it is still too soon to rule anything out.
Ferrari arrived at the Red Bull Ring eager to prove its breakthrough triumph in Barcelona was the beginning of a genuine resurgence rather than a one-off result.
But after a relatively low-key opening day in Spielberg, the early signs suggest the Italian team still has significant work to do before it can challenge Mercedes and McLaren at the front.
Lewis Hamilton ended Friday's second practice session fifth fastest, more than six tenths adrift of pace-setter Kimi Antonelli, while Leclerc could only manage eighth after sitting out the opening session to allow rookie Dino Beganovic valuable track time.
Ferrari's long-run pace also appeared to leave the team chasing its closest rivals.
Leclerc struggling for grip
The Monegasque admitted Friday's running failed to provide the encouraging signals Ferrari had enjoyed in Barcelona.
"I'm not so confident, but never say never," he said. "But it's true that on the Friday in Barcelona, there were a few elements that led us to think that there was quite a bit of performance in the car.
“At the moment it's been a struggle, the whole FP1 that I didn't do and also FP2 inside the car. So, it's been a difficult Friday for the team."
Leclerc pinpointed a fundamental lack of grip as Ferrari's biggest concern throughout the day.
"Just overall grip, we've been sliding from all four tyres since the first lap I've done. It's been very, very tricky,” he explained.
Although tyre degradation may not prove to be Ferrari's biggest weakness over a race distance, Leclerc warned that outright speed remains the more pressing issue.
"In Barcelona it was very difficult as well [with the tyres]. Here you've got different limitations, but at the end of the day, tyre management will play as much of a role,” he said.
“In terms of actual degradation, we are not in a bad place here. The bigger problem is that the pace is not there. So maybe after 20 laps we are fast, but 20 laps is not good [enough]. We've got to do some work on the car."
Vasseur sees room for improvement
Team principal Fred Vasseur acknowledged Ferrari had endured another subdued Friday, joking that the team was "copying Barcelona" after failing to impress at the start of the weekend.
However, unlike Spain, where Ferrari quickly unlocked race-winning pace, he cautioned that the current picture is less encouraging.
"Today we struggled a little bit with the conditions, I think a bit like Barcelona," he said.
"With the altitude, with temperature, with track temperature, air temperature. I think that is the same for everybody, but we struggled a lot. And we have to work on ourselves, to work on the set-up, on the car, on the driving, on everything to do a better job tomorrow."
Vasseur believes one key difference from Barcelona is that tyre degradation is unlikely to play such a decisive role in Austria, meaning Ferrari cannot rely on race management alone to close the gap.
"The degradation in Barcelona was much higher, and it was the main driver for the performance, at least in the race. But we were also able to fight for the pole position in qualifying," he cautioned.
"At least in terms of pure potential, we were there. Now, so far, we are far away. But it's true that in Barcelona we were not so shiny, also on Friday. We have a lot of potential to unlock tonight and we'll see tomorrow."
Read also: Hamilton reveals hidden injury that impacted start of 2025 seasonFerrari has also introduced a modestly upgraded V6 power unit this weekend, but Vasseur insisted the revised engine was never expected to transform the team's fortunes overnight.
"The lead time on the engine is huge," the Frenchman explained. "On some components you have months of delay. It was very risky for us to launch spec two of the engine very early for cost cap reasons. We were not expecting a big step at all this weekend."
With Ferrari still searching for balance, grip and outright pace in the sweltering Austrian conditions, Leclerc's cautious assessment suggests the Scuderia faces an uphill battle if it is to turn another quiet Friday into a Sunday fight for victory.
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