Gary Anderson has one ‘question’ after seeing what Ferrari put on Lewis Hamilton’s car at the Austrian Grand Prix

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Ferrari have been off the pace in practice for the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix, as Charles Leclerc only sealed fifth place in FP2 at the Red Bull Ring with Lewis Hamilton in 10th.

The Scuderia slumped to 0.610s and 0.931-second deficits to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at the end of Friday in Spielberg. Hamilton was also only able to seal P9 in FP1 with a 0.557s deficit to Mercedes’ George Russell, as Leclerc watched Dino Beganovic manage P18 in his SF-25.

Ferrari were thwarted by reliability problems during the opening session at the Austrian GP, as well. Hamilton spent time back in their garage thanks to an unspecified gearbox issue, as Beganovic also endured mechanical gremlins while filling part of Ferrari’s FP1 rookie quota.

Leclerc would not have a tidy session once back in his car for FP2, either, as the 27-year-old struggled to keep his SF-25 on the road. Anthony Davidson even suggested that Ferrari have a ‘problem’ after Leclerc’s offs in FP2 for the Austrian GP at the slow Turn 3 and fast Turn 6.

Gary Anderson questions ‘how big’ an improvement Ferrari’s Austrian GP upgrades are

Practice for the Austrian GP was crucial for Ferrari with the Scuderia providing Hamilton and Leclerc with a major upgrade package. No team has brought more new parts to the Red Bull Ring than they have, with Ferrari using an updated floor and rear diffuser at the Austrian GP.

READ MORE: Most successful drivers at the Austrian GP of all time and at the Red Bull Ring

Ferrari have changed the edge, fences and body of the floor on the SF-25, along with tweaks to the rear diffuser to match. Engineers in Maranello hope their updates will allow the team to run the SF-25 lower to the ground by increasing the levels of their underfloor downforce.

Former Jordan technical director Gary Anderson believes Ferrari’s Austrian GP upgrades can be a ‘step forward’, as long as the Scuderia do not get carried away with the set-ups Leclerc and Hamilton run. Yet he does question how much of an impact their floor update will have.

Anderson told The Race: “Overall, as long as Ferrari don’t get tempted to run the car too low to increase downforce levels, then I think these modifications should be a step forward. The question is just how big a step it is.”

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton lose lots of time due to Ferrari’s ride height problems

Ferrari’s problematic 2025 F1 car has cost Leclerc 15 seconds per race, with the team having to raise the ride height of the SF-25 to prevent excessive wear to their rear skid plank. Their problems in this regard were particularly evident back at the Chinese Grand Prix this March.

READ MORE: The most successful teams and engine manufacturers at the F1 Austrian GP

Hamilton featured in Ferrari’s first-ever double disqualification in the 2025 Chinese GP when the stewards ruled his skid plank had excessive wear due to his SF-25 running too low. While the thickness of each point must be at least 9mm, his measured 8.6mm, 8.6mm and 8.5mm.

Ferrari have since been working on a number of updates to improve the ride height of their 2025 F1 car. But chassis technical director Loic Serra is still overseeing the final phase of the development of Ferrari’s rear suspension upgrade to improve the predictability of the SF-25.