Ferrari have taken action at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix to avoid being disqualified, according to one Sky Sports F1 pundit.
The 11th round of the championship headed to the Red Bull Ring, where the Scuderia’s stellar driver duo were in contention for their best result of the season.
Charles Leclerc lined up P2 for Sunday’s race with team-mate Lewis Hamilton just two places behind him in fourth for lights out in Spielberg, but after a strong start for McLaren, a first grand prix win for Ferrari looked next to impossible.
Having brought a new floor this weekend to add downforce to their machinery, Ferrari secured a fairly positive result, with Leclerc claiming another podium and Hamilton finishing just behind in P4.
As the two SF-25s sped around the tricky track on Sunday, Sky F1 reporter Ted Kravitz noted a preventative aspect of their performance
“We think they [Ferrari] are still having to lift and coast, but we don’t think the lift and coast is for fuel or brakes, it could be just to protect the skid blocks. The issue Ferrari have had for the whole season, but nevertheless they look happy with the progress,” he declared.
The technique described by Kravitz refers to when a driver eases off the throttle earlier than usual when approaching a corner before lifting off it and coasting the car for a brief distance before applying the brakes once again.
Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from the Chinese GP as a result of his Ferrari’s skid block being too thin
How Ferrari look to avoid Austrian GP disqualification
Lifting and coasting is often used by a driver for numerous reasons, but Kravitz’s theory stated that Fred Vasseur’s drivers were applying the technique to protect their skid blocks.
Vasseur was not able to be present at the Austrian GP for personal reasons, but he was there to witness the most tumultuous race weekend of the Scuderia’s season earlier this year in China.
Following Hamilton’s first and only race win in red at the Chinese GP Sprint in March, the seven-time champion likely felt another positive result was possible during the main race.
After finishing P6 in the Chinese GP behind Leclerc in P5, both Ferrari drivers were disqualified, bringing double disaster to the Scuderia’s door earlier this year.
Leclerc’s Ferrari was ruled to have breached the FIA’s weight regulations in Shanghai and shortly after, it was announced that the skid wear of Hamilton’s Ferrari had been checked according to the team’s legality documents, with his measurements all under the minimum 9mm thickness required. Hamilton was disqualified as a result.
Elsewhere in Austria this weekend Red Bull-backed driver Nikola Tsolov was stripped of his F3 feature race victory after his car failed to meet the minimum plank thickness requirement.
On top of this, McLaren junior Alex Dunne was also disqualified from the Austrian F2 feature race for the same issue.
