Lewis Hamilton has claimed that teammate Charles Leclerc was within reach in qualifying if only for a slight error on his final lap that cost him time. The British driver put together his best qualifying session with the Italian team as he would start the race in P4.

Lewis Hamilton’s start to life at Ferrari has not been straightforward. When the driver joined the team, there were expectations of a title battle from Ferrari. On one side, the team had almost won the title in 2024 against McLaren, and on the other, the most successful driver in F1 history was joining the team.

That didn’t happen, as coupled with Ferrari’s issues with the car, Lewis Hamilton has not had a good run. The driver has almost always trailed Charles Leclerc in both qualifying and races. During the F1 Austrian GP, the final gap between the two was within a tenth, which was a major boost for the driver.

Talking to Motorsport, Hamilton revealed that if it wasn’t for the error he made on his lap, he could have started the race in P2 and beaten Charles Leclerc. He said

“I think I still had room to improve: I had almost three tenths of a lead going into Turn 6, then I had a huge oversteer. In the end I crossed the line six hundredths of a lead, so I could have finished second. There are definitely positives, and operationally the team did an excellent job. It was the best qualifying, operationally, that we have done.”

Talking about the lap and the comeback after a somewhat disappointing outlook on Friday, the driver said,

“We made some progress overnight, so I’m much happier with the car. The direction we’ve taken I think has been positive. And I think we’re getting closer in terms of performance to Charles, who is really used to the car, he basically never changes it. So I think that’s a very positive sign,” Hamilton commented after qualifying.”

Lewis Hamilton pinpoints the team’s operations as a major improvement

One of the areas that has proven to be a tough cookie to crack has been the operational side of things at Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton has found himself compromised when it comes to keeping a vigilant eye on traffic during sessions. While the driver was positive about the car, he made it a point to mention how much of an impact the operations side of the team had also made. He said

“There are a lot of positives to take from this session. Also, I think it was the best day operationally, especially during qualifying: the way the team worked, the timing, the information we were getting about traffic and positioning on the track… I think we really did our best.”

Lewis Hamilton is yet to score a podium with Ferrari in a Grand Prix. He would be hoping to achieve that feat on Sunday as his teammate starts the race on the front row.