Lewis Hamilton was left to rue a crash in FP3 at the Belgian Grand Prix which left him with a repaired Ferrari that did not feel the same as before the incident. The seven-time world champion damaged the back of his Ferrari in the closing stages of practice on Saturday, giving his mechanics an uphill task to repair the car with just two hours before qualifying began.
Hamilton's Qualifying Performance
Hamilton was able to get back onto the track at Spa and secured fifth place for the race on Sunday, though the car did not feel identical to its pre-crash state. Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes secured pole, while Max Verstappen will start second on the grid ahead of George Russell in third and Charles Leclerc in fourth.
"The boys did a mega job to fix my damage after FP3," Hamilton said. "The car felt amazing in FP3 and I really felt confident. We wouldn't have been fighting for pole, because the Mercedes are just too fast, but we definitely could have been, with the car we had in FP3, we could probably have been third. I was missing a couple of tenths once I got to qualifying. The car wasn't identical to what we ended up having for qualifying, but I did the best I could with what I had."
Race Day Prospects
Hamilton's efforts earned him sixth on the timesheet, climbing to fifth on Sunday's grid following Lando Norris' penalty. Hamilton is honest about making inroads during the race but held doubts about finding a way past the two Mercedes ahead of him. He said: "The last sector is where we seem to lose the most, and that is pure grunt. And a little bit in sector one, but they're just really fast. It's to be expected at this track. We expected them to be really, really fast and they are everywhere. In qualifying they just have that bit extra than everyone else. Definitely, I think we can go forward tomorrow, so I'll be giving it absolutely everything to try to catch them up."
Leclerc's Frustration
Charles Leclerc finished one place ahead having eased off for yellow flags, and he too felt a stronger result had been within reach. He said: "It's a bit of a shame. That last lap was a tiny bit better, but then there was a yellow flag in the last two corners. I knew there was a yellow flag around that zone for the pit lane entry, but to me, the stewards were very visible, a bit too visible on track for it to be a yellow flag for the pit entry. But it's the way it is. I lifted off and I probably lost a bit of lap time there. I wouldn't have done a crazy-better lap time, and half a second was still there, but one position would have been possible."
Much like Hamilton, Leclerc believes Mercedes hold too great an advantage along Spa-Francorchamps' lengthy straights for Ferrari to mount a serious challenge on Sunday. He added: "It's just raw power, I think. Raw power – they are just on the better side of things, and we are pretty strong in the grip-limited [sections], but struggling in the power-limited. However, today it's true that they were very strong in the corners as well. They just have a very strong package at the moment, and for us, we just have to focus on those tracks to maximise what we have."
