Lewis Hamilton offers very honest verdict on Ferrari upgrades for Austrian GP

Lewis Hamilton has confessed he's in the dark about whether Ferrari's latest upgrades for the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix will give him a much-needed boost. Teams typically have an inkling of the potential time savings when they introduce new components at a circuit, but this doesn't seem to be the case for Ferrari at Spielberg.

Despite eagerly anticipating his team's first significant update of 2025, Hamilton, who has been grappling with performance issues this season, is now facing uncertainty with the arrival of the new parts. The seven-time F1 world champion said: "Firstly, I am happy that we have an upgrade, it is always exciting to get new pieces on the car. So I'm really grateful for everyone working hard to bring them, but we don't really know the actual effect it is going to have.

"It's not the normal information we're getting of how much load you've added to the car, it is not necessarily clear, but hopefully it will be a step in the right direction, but I wouldn't think we're expecting it to change a huge amount, but fingers crossed it is better."

Hamilton has candidly expressed his desire for more from his car, while also admitting to being overly self-critical at times. The 40-year-old feels he hasn't maximised his own performances and results, yet he remains hopeful, noting progress in both areas.

He remarked: "I've spoken so much about it, so I don't particularly want to give you more insight into it, because, and I am not making excuses, we were second in the constructors' before the last race, and we've had many problems in both sides, driver and car, but we are working towards it.

"The positive is that we are making improvements, we are progressing, whether or not you see that is not necessarily important to me. Personally, I feel like I am making progress, we are making progress, and that is what is most important."

As McLaren lead the pack this season, Ferrari's gaze shifts to 2026 as a pivotal year to launch a formidable challenge for F1 supremacy.

With sweeping new regulations set to overhaul the sport next season, Charles Leclerc, Hamilton's team-mate, shared less-than-enthusiastic feedback after his initial simulation run of the upcoming design.

The Monegasque stated: "Let's say it's not the most enjoyable race car I've driven so far, but we are still in a moment where the project is relatively new.

"My hope relies on the fact that it will evolve quite a bit in the next few months, but I think it's no secret that I think the regulations for next year are going to be a lot, probably, less enjoyable for drivers to drive.

"So yeah, I'm not a big fan of it for now. But it's the way it is. At the end of the day I think there's a challenge, and I would like the challenge of maximising a very different car to what it is at the moment. But do I enjoy it? Probably not."