Ferrari is pushing like crazy with new power unit upgrades in Austria

It has been an agonizing stretch for Charles Leclerc. After the wall in Monaco and a power steering failure in Barcelona-Catalunya, the man needs a clean run, and he needs it now. The team at Ferrari has been working at an insane pace, bringing a new power unit to the Red Bull Ring to hopefully flip the momentum.

Leclerc is clear-eyed about the challenge ahead. He knows that despite the intense development work, Mercedes still holds the upper hand with a superior power unit on the long straights of this circuit. He is expecting to be on the back foot in Qualifying, though he remains hopeful that the machine will be in the mix come Sunday.

There is genuine pressure here. With Lewis Hamilton currently holding a 40-point lead and coming off a victory, Leclerc is desperate to return to the podium for the first time since the Miami Sprint. He says the feeling in the car is back, and if the mechanical gremlins stay away, he is ready to push to the maximum.