Two weeks ago, Ferrari stunned Mercedes by handing the Silver Arrows a first grand prix defeat of the 2026 Formula 1 season, with Lewis Hamilton's scorching pace in the final stint suggesting the Scuderia's upgrade package had brought it back into contention.

Armed with a slightly improved V6 engine, the first product of its ADUO upgrade allowance, Ferrari is aiming to show its Spanish form wasn't a one-off, but in the Austrian heat it is still left searching for grip and pace after a challenging day of Friday practice.

Hamilton and Leclerc ended FP2 in fifth and eighth respectively, with Hamilton over six tenths off pacesetter Kimi Antonelli, while there are early indications Ferrari's long run form also pegs it behind at least Mercedes and McLaren, in that order.

F1 Austrian GP: Kimi Antonelli tops FP2 to complete perfect Friday

Ferrari also suffered a tough brace of Friday sessions in Barcelona, but Leclerc, who ceded his car in FP1 to rookie Dino Beganovic, hasn't seen the same indications in Spielberg that his squad can compete at the front this time.

"I'm not so confident, but never say never," he said. "But it's true that on the Friday in Barcelona, there were a few elements that led us to think that there was quite a bit of performance in the car. At the moment it's been a struggle, the whole FP1 that I didn't do and also FP2 inside the car. So, it's been a difficult Friday for the team."

When asked what he was lacking, Leclerc replied: "Just overall grip, we've been sliding from all four tyres since the first lap I've done. It's been very, very tricky.

"In Barcelona it was very difficult as well [with the tyres]. Here you've got different limitations, but at the end of the day tyre management will play as much of a role. In terms of actual degradation, we are not in a bad place here. The bigger problem is that the pace is not there. So maybe after 20 laps we are fast, but 20 laps is not good [enough]. We've got to do some work on the car."

Rookie driver Dino Beganovic completed FP1 in Leclerc's car and posted the ninth-fastest time.

Team principal Fred Vasseur joked that Ferrari is "copying Barcelona" by being equally unimpressive on Friday form, but conceded that his squad hadn't been able to thrive in the sweltering conditions as the European heatwave saw temperatures soar above 33C, with track temperatures clearing the 50C barrier.

"Today we struggled a little bit with the conditions, I think a bit like Barcelona," he said. "With the altitude, with temperature, with track temperature, air temperature. I think that is the same for everybody, but we struggled a lot. And we have to work on ourselves, to work on the set-up, on the car, on the driving, on everything to do a better job tomorrow."

Vasseur says the biggest difference with Barcelona is that tyre degradation won't be as extreme this weekend. But he pointed out Ferrari was also strong over one lap there, which hasn't proven to be the case in Spielberg.

"The degradation in Barcelona was much higher, and it was the main driver for the performance, at least in the race. But we were also able to fight for the pole position in qualifying," he cautioned. "At least in terms of pure potential, we were there. Now, so far, we are far away.

"But it's true that in Barcelona we were not so shiny, also on Friday. We have a lot of potential to unlock tonight and we'll see tomorrow."

Vasseur added that the squad's new V6 engine brought what he "was expecting", which is just a modest step on horsepower.

"The lead time on the engine is huge," the Frenchman explained. "On some components you have months of delay. It was very risky for us to launch spec two of the engine very early for cost cap reasons. We were not expecting a big step at all this weekend."

George Russell identifies "concerning" McLaren pace as a 'real threat' in F1 Austria GP

Red Bull confident of keeping Max Verstappen despite Paul Monaghan exit rumours

FIA bans Ferrari style exhaust wings in F1 2027

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

Former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer has argued that Charles Leclerc could be the ultimate weapon in Lewis Hamilton's championship title bid.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, Palmer discussed the dynamics at Ferrari after the seven-time champion's win at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

"First of all, there's been a kind of lazy narrative that Lewis is thrashing Charles at Ferrari, and it's all now his team, and this is it," Palmer said. "When you look through it, Charles has been very, very close or even quicker than Lewis on a lot of these recent weekends.

"So, the outlier is Canada. Lewis beat him hands down. But in Monaco, I think it was only FP2 that Lewis was actually ahead of Charles before Charles put it in the wall in qualifying and then the race.

"And in Barcelona, I think it was only Q1 that Lewis was ahead of Charles. So I think Charles's own worst enemy is himself right now, rather than, obviously Lewis is doing a great job and absolutely hats off to him, but nonetheless, I don't think [Charles is] going to win the championship from this far back.

"So do Ferrari at some point start to push the ball towards Lewis's court because they simply have to if they want to beat Mercedes?"

The Monegasque driver currently sits fourth in the drivers' championship with 75 points, while Hamilton is second with 115 points. Palmer suggested that the Maranello outfit could soon decide to back one driver.

Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

By choosing Hamilton as its number-one driver, Ferrari could use Leclerc to take as many points from Mercedes as possible and aid the Briton in the championship fight. Palmer claimed that the 28-year-old could become an "absolute menace" at the front of the grid. 

"If Ferrari could get to a position where they can say to Charles Leclerc, 'Right, you're 40 points back from Lewis. We think this is a long shot with Lewis, let alone with you to try and come back with the pace deficit we've inherently got against Mercedes.' Could Ferrari pose a threat?

"And with Leclerc's pace, I mean, he could be an absolute menace to Mercedes. He could take wins. He could take so many points off them, and he could really help out Hamilton. 

"Question is, would Charles Leclerc ever do that for Hamilton? He's just off the back of this massive, lucrative contract that he's got. He's not there to be a number two driver, but you think if you're Ferrari, that is your best asset to try and make a championship fight out of nothing here.

"And they've shown before, it kind of killed Felipe Massa's morale and career from that moment on. But my word, they nearly got a title out of the ashes of absolutely nothing [with Fernando Alonso]."

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.