Lewis Hamilton said the Hamilton vs Verstappen Austrian GP battle ended with Red Bull making a huge step at the Austrian Grand Prix. He said the upgraded RB22 may have gained three to four tenths, and that kind of jump puts the fight in a different place for the following races.
“They made a huge step this weekend,” Hamilton said after finishing fifth. He added: “I think they must have brought a three to four tenths upgrade. Three tenths was just from the weight that they dropped from the car, which is huge, considering they’ve been so close in some of the races, like Monaco, and they were nine kilos overweight.”
Verstappen’s season-best P2
Max Verstappen turned that package into a season-best P2, then held off Hamilton after the two battled on track. George Russell won the race and finished 1.6 seconds ahead of Verstappen, while Charles Leclerc came home eighth with front wing damage.
Red Bull brought the most upgrades of any of the top teams to Austria, and its package on the RB22 was seven parts deep. Laurent Mekies had hoped it would bring Red Bull within three tenths of the ultimate pace, so Hamilton’s estimate points to a car that moved closer to the front than the target suggested.
Hamilton’s Ferrari warning
That leaves Hamilton with a clear read from a race he entered after his first Ferrari grand prix win in Barcelona. He praised Red Bull’s progress even though he lost the Austrian GP battle to Verstappen, and his post-race view was blunt: the car, the weight reduction, and the upgrades now look good enough to make Red Bull a force in the following races.
For Hamilton, the immediate takeaway is simple. Ferrari just saw a rival leave Austria with real pace in hand, and Verstappen’s P2 was the signal that the gap is no longer only about one clean lap or one overtake.
