Lewis Hamilton saw Ferrari’s ‘Achilles Heel’ in full effect at the Austrian Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton admitted that Ferrari’s weakness was exposed during the Dutch Grand Prix qualifying session.

Hamilton managed to secure P3 for himself in qualifying, as George Russell’s controversial last lap helped him land pole position, thus knocking his former teammate off the front row.

Understandably, Hamilton wasn’t thrilled about Russell getting pole under the circumstances, given that his pole time came as double-yellow flags were waved.

George Russell scores pole for the Austrian Grand Prix 🇦🇹 But who surprised you the most during qualifying

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Coming into the weekend, Hamilton had set bare minimum targets for Ferrari as they introduced upgrades to try and close the gap to Mercedes.

However, Ferrari didn’t manage to get the best out of their car. One of the biggest reasons for this was Lewis Hamilton seeing their weakness on full display.

READ MORE: Karun Chandhok sends ‘critical’ warning to Charles Leclerc amid Lewis Hamilton’s resurgence

Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari’s straight line speed will take time to resolve

Lewis Hamilton spoke after the Austrian Grand Prix qualifying session about Ferrari’s performance over the weekend so far.

Even with the new upgrades, Ferrari’s lack of speed on the long straights was on full display, and it is an issue the team will have to work on beyond just this weekend to close the gap to Mercedes.

“I don’t think we have a measure of success; we just want to continue to be moving forward and try to get closer.

“We knew coming into this weekend it would be tough, with the long straights… We got here, and the deficit looked bigger than the other victors we’ve been at.

“Maybe it’s the altitude, not sure. I can’t really predict what’s gonna happen in the future, just know when we get to the long straights circuits, it’s gonna be our Achilles Heel for a while.

“We need to make a bigger step, naturally, to really close the gap to them.”

READ MORE: Karun Chandhok saw something ‘rare’ from the F1 paddock after Lewis Hamilton’s first Ferrari win

Lewis Hamilton cannot afford Ferrari’s development struggle in tense championship race

As he sits just 41 points behind Kimi Antonelli in the championship standings, the upcoming races are crucial for Lewis Hamilton.

Antonelli is aware of the threat Hamilton poses, especially considering the massive chasm of experience between the two riders.

And even though this race weekend might not turn out in his favour, Hamilton can still shrink the deficit between the two with a strategically sound performance like we saw in Barcelona.

Hamilton still finds himself ahead of Antonelli on the starting grid in Austria, so he could capitalise on this advantage and outscore the young Italian driver, thus giving him more confidence in his hunt for an eighth world championship.