Charles Leclerc claimed a front row start and Lewis Hamilton smiled –- two clear signals on Saturday that Ferrari had made a step forward with the upgrades that lifted their performance in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix.
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The 27-year-old Monegasque driver qualified second, 0.5sec behind a dominant Lando Norris of McLaren, while seven-time champion Hamilton was fourth -- just 0.090 seconds slower than his team-mate in a tight session. Championship leader Oscar Piastri was third in the second McLaren.
"I am so very pleased," said Leclerc. "It's been a long time since we started on the front row. I think it was in Monaco. And it has been a difficult season overall, but the team has kept pushing.
"We have some new parts this weekend, which for sure made a difference because if you look at the gaps, everybody is super-close. So thanks to the team.
"I'm very happy with the lap overall. It's a good start to the weekend. We know that we have a better car normally in the race than qualifying, so I hope that we can put more pressure on the McLaren."
He went on to congratulate Norris. "He deserves it," said Leclerc. "But tomorrow we will try to bring him a tough time. We have a strong car and we'll do all we can."
HAMILTON UPBEAT
After his miserable start to the season, Hamilton was upbeat. "It's a fantastic result today," said the Briton.
"The team has worked so hard at the factory and we had new parts this weekend so for Charles to be second and me to be on the second row is fantastic.
"I could have been second if I had finished my lap, but we have a lot of positives to take from today –- it has been the best day operationally in a qualifying session for things like timings, information from the team, team operations..."
Summing up the team's performance, the veteran called it: "The best and world-class. "Ultimately, these last few weeks, we have all pulled together and blocked out all the noise. We put our heads down and we are putting the puzzle together bit by bit in the right places. Step by step.
"I am happy with the progress we are making. I'm not saying anything about a podium tomorrow… I've wanted it every week. I'm just staying quiet and hoping to do a better job."