Lewis Hamilton is hoping to work collaboratively with Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc to beat polesitter George Russell within the Components 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver took his fourth pole of 2026 on the Pink Bull Ring on Saturday, pipping Leclerc with Hamilton lining up in third forward of Russell’s stablemate Kimi Antonelli.
Ferrari exceeded expectations in qualifying after lagging considerably behind Mercedes in follow, however its drivers benefitted from setting their lap earlier than Max Verstappen’s late crash.
That compelled provisional polesitter Antonelli to abort his closing lap, whereas Russell managed to simply sneak his in, so the Scuderia is conscious that it nonetheless holds a tempo deficit to the Silver Arrows.
It’s for mentioned cause that Hamilton is hoping to workforce up with Leclerc to topple Russell, with a two-stop technique on medium and onerous rubber trying optimum for Sunday’s scorching race.
The seven-time world champion mentioned: “This weekend we’ve not been assured that we may struggle for a win. These guys have been six tenths faster than us many of the weekend.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photograph by: Eric Le Galliot
“We closed the hole in a single day, however we nonetheless are three tenths down, or two-and-a-bit tenths down, immediately. It’s going to be very powerful to problem them tomorrow, however with a future all the way down to Flip 3, hopefully collectively we will.
“It’s nice having Charles right here as effectively, as a result of we will hopefully work collectively in a technique and attempt to apply stress to them.”
So Hamilton is conscious that the high-speed Austrian observe will go well with Mercedes extra with its superior engine, making a repeat of his Barcelona win final trip fairly unlikely.
However Russell is aware of that if his former Mercedes team-mate and Leclerc do work collectively, he’ll have a troublesome job of securing his second win of the marketing campaign – significantly with championship chief Antonelli additionally on the second row.
“These guys are super-fast and it’s going to be a problem having the 2 of them close by,” mentioned Russell. “We noticed Lewis in Barcelona, how nice his tempo was.
“I feel it will likely be difficult for them to overhaul us within the straights as a result of we’ve obtained the straight-line benefit, however they’ve obtained the benefit within the corners.
“And in the event that they’re splitting the technique or placing us underneath stress, it might be troublesome to carry on to. And, after all, Kimi goes to be super-fast.”
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