F1 News
Hamilton believes Ferrari could control Austrian Grand Prix
- Jake Williams-Smith
Lewis Hamilton believes that Ferrari may have the upper hand against Mercedes in Austria after Friday practice ahead of the race.
In FP1 it was the five-time champion who finished fastest of all while in the second session things went less smoothly for the championship leaders.
Teammate Valtteri Bottas spun into the barriers between turns five and six, disturbing Hamilton's qualifying run due to the red flags shown. It meant that Charles Leclerc was fastest in FP2 for Ferrari.
The Mercedes driver admitted that while the Silver Arrows looked good, the pace shown by the Italian outfit had him anticipating a tough fight for victory during Sunday's race.
“Ferrari and Red Bull look quick, particularly Ferrari, and it will be interesting to see how it pans out tomorrow," he told media.
"This is one of those circuits where the times are always very, very close and small margins make the difference; that’s a positive because it means we will have our work cut out.
"But that’s okay: we will keep fighting and this is a circuit where you can follow other cars, so hopefully the tyres will be durable as well.”