Hakkinen identifies Ferrari building block for Austrian GP

Mika Hakkinen has highlighted Ferrari's Formula 1 strategy as a key part of their hopes for success in the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

Last time out in Canada, Ferrari rescued fourth and fifth in the race after some clever strategy and not pitting either Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz behind the Safety Car, despite running on Medium tyres.

This enabled both drivers to break free from a DRS train that had formed, using clear air to leapfrog the midfield pack and salvage a respectable result after a poor Saturday showing that had Leclerc out in Q2 and Sainz penalised.

And Hakkinen believes this could be Ferrari's weapon against Mercedes and Aston Martin at the Red Bull Ring.

Ferrari's promise

"Ferrari ran a good strategy in Canada and they need to build on that kind of confidence, even if Mercedes and Aston continue to have a performance advantage," Hakkinen noted in his Unibet column, while also observing the battle between Aston Martin and Mercedes.

"Behind Max [Verstappen] there is so much to enjoy as Aston Martin battles with Mercedes Benz. It was great to see Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton on the podium with Max in Canada – three great World Champions together.

"Fernando and Lewis are beginning to close the gap to [Sergio Perez] in the World Championship.

"It’s going to be really important for those teams to focus on getting consistent performance across their driver line-up.

"Aston Martin brought upgrades to Canada, while Mercedes introduced their upgrades in Monaco but really showed strongly in Barcelona and Montreal, so the fight between these two teams is just brilliant to watch.

"This weekend we will see the second Sprint race of 2023.

"That, combined with a good chance of rain, may create the opportunity for someone other than Max to win.

"If that was to happen, and considering Mercedes expects this race to be even better for their car than Canada, Lewis will be pushing hard to beat Fernando to the win. Red Bull have won all eight races so far, maybe this is the weekend for change!"