Ferrari duo Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc believe their impressive performance in qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix is down to hard work from the team behind the scenes.

Leclerc will start the race in second, one place ahead of Hamilton, after George Russell secured pole position with his final lap of the session on Saturday.

Hamilton has established himself as a contender for the Drivers' Championship after following up second-place finishes at the British and Belgian Grands Prix with a win in Spain last time out, his first race victory with Ferrari.

Leclerc, on the other hand, has struggled recently, with his most recent podium coming in Japan in March, but he managed to outperform his team-mate in qualifying.

The pair were quick to praise their team after qualifying, with an interesting race ahead on Sunday.

"To have the two Ferraris second and third is fantastic and a reflection of the amazing work being done back at the factory," said Hamilton.

"They really are continuing to push. They brought small bits here and worked hard to upgrade the car. It is really starting to pay off.

"I made a mistake in Q3 and didn't get the first lap but I am really happy."

Leclerc added: "I’m relatively happy. Of course the last few weekends have been quite tough, so I just wanted to have a clean weekend and most of all a clean qualifying to start well for tomorrow [race].

"To start second is a good place. The team have been pushing massively to bring upgrades in Barcelona and again this weekend, and that pays off.

"If I’m completely honest, I didn’t think we’d be starting on the front row until qualifying really, so it’s a good surprise that we are so far up."

Russell finished 0.236 seconds clear at the top as he seeks his first win since the opening race of the season in Australia.

His fastest lap time was called into question after Max Verstappen, who qualified in fifth, crashed ahead of the final corner, bringing out yellow flags.

"I feel incredible. It was an amazing lap," said Russell.

"I saw the yellow, I had a big lift into the corner, went in in five tenths up and came out two and a half tenths up.

"It was a single yellow and should be okay. Everything felt sweet and I am really proud of the job we all did."

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli will start the race in fourth after he slowed down on his final flying lap, assuming it was double yellow flags.

McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will start in sixth and seventh respectively.