Hamilton highlights ‘brake issues’ that Ferrari must fix

Lewis Hamilton concluded his Austrian Grand Prix weekend with a sense of cautious optimism, as Ferrari scored a strong double top-four finish.

But the seven-time world champion admitted that a persistent brake issue on the SF-25 continues to hinder weigh on the car’s performance — and he’s urging the Scuderia to act swiftly.

Hamilton finished fourth at the Red Bull Ring, one spot behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, in what marks his joint-best result of the 2025 season.

Ferrari showed improved race pace in the heat of Spielberg, with Leclerc standing on the podium for only the second time this year. But for Hamilton, the race was another exercise in damage control.

“We have brake issues, so I had to manage these brakes pretty early on, which was losing definitely some time,” Hamilton said after the race. “That's something I'm really pushing to get fixed, because that's not great.”

The Briton has openly criticised the inconsistent braking feel in the SF-25 throughout the season, describing it earlier in the year as “like a lottery.”

As he elaborated: “We roll the dice and you put one [set of brakes] on and it works and you put another on and it doesn’t.”

Learning From Leclerc – With Caution

Although Hamilton’s weekend showed signs of promise – including improved qualifying form – he continues to grapple with adapting to Ferrari’s car philosophy. One area of experimentation has been car setup, as Hamilton revealed he’s edging closer to Leclerc’s preferences.

“Set-up even closer to Charles, yeah,” Hamilton said. “He drives a massively oversteering car. Somehow slides the rear, so it doesn't have degradation. When I slide the rear, I get massive degradation.

“It's definitely something I think you have to get used to. Supposedly, it took Carlos a couple of years to get used to. I don't want to do that.”

While adopting elements of Leclerc’s driving style may help close the performance gap, Hamilton was frank about the extent of the deficit on race day.

“Still losing massive ground. We lose eight seconds, nine seconds – compared to Charles.”

Ferrari Upgrades Offer Glimmer of Hope

Despite the persistent frustrations, Hamilton left Austria encouraged by Ferrari’s incremental improvements. A new floor introduced this weekend appeared to provide more than he had initially anticipated.

“I think we've moved forwards,” Hamilton said. “The upgrade was quite small, so we didn't really know. They didn't even mention any time because it was that small. But I think perhaps it was a bigger result from putting the floor on. That's the real positive.

“It's pretty great to see the team bringing the upgrade. We've moved forwards. We've been the second fastest this weekend. Third and fourth is a real positive.

“There's lots of good things to take from the weekend, and there's lots of areas to focus on.”

Ferrari’s pace in Spielberg was a clear step forward from recent rounds, with both drivers able to hold off threats from Mercedes and Aston Martin. But Hamilton knows qualifying remains an area to tighten up, despite an improvement on Saturday.

“Qualifying was better. We found a problem that I had in my last qualifying lap, which cost me a tenth. There was some issue on the car, so that's again a positive result,” he explained.

“But I would have gone backwards if I had started second. So I've got to find race pace, that's key.”

Austrian Grand Prix - Race results

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