Lewis Hamilton admitted that his Ferrari 'didn't feel the same' after a heavy crash in final practice severely compromised his qualifying performance for the Belgian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion ended up sixth on the timesheet, later promoted to fifth on the grid due to Lando Norris's penalty, but he believes a top-three result was possible without the incident.
Practice Crash Disrupts Hamilton's Saturday
Hamilton's Saturday at Spa-Francorchamps took a dramatic turn when he smashed the rear of his Ferrari at the very end of FP3. The crash left his mechanics with an enormous repair job and only two hours to complete before qualifying. Despite their rapid work, Hamilton felt the car was no longer identical to its earlier setup.
'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.'
Mercedes Dominance in Qualifying
Hamilton acknowledged that Mercedes had a significant pace advantage, particularly on the long straights of Spa. '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,' he explained. Despite the setback, Hamilton remains optimistic about race day: 'Definitely, I think we can go forward tomorrow, so I'll be giving it absolutely everything to try to catch them up.'
Leclerc Also Frustrated by Yellow Flags
Charles Leclerc, Hamilton's Ferrari teammate, qualified one place higher but was also left frustrated. He believed he lost time due to yellow flags in the final sector. '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,' Leclerc said. '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.'
Ferrari's Power Deficit on Straights
Both Hamilton and Leclerc agreed that Mercedes' raw power on the long Spa straights makes them difficult to challenge. Leclerc noted: '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.'
With Hamilton starting fifth and Leclerc fourth, Ferrari will aim to capitalise on any race-day opportunities, though overtaking Mercedes on pure speed remains a significant challenge.
