Belgian GP Qualifying review: Charles Leclerc impresses with strong lap, Lewis Hamilton faces setbacks

The real and highly anticipated weekend of the Belgian Grand Prix in the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship has officially begun. The Ferrari team spent much of the morning observing the thrilling and intense battle between the reigning world champion Max Verstappen and the McLaren MCL39 cars of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the Sprint Race that took place earlier today. Charles Leclerc managed to finish in a respectable fourth place, maintaining a significant but reasonable distance from the main contenders fighting for victory. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was unfortunately stuck towards the back of the grid, struggling with enormous difficulties while attempting to make a strong comeback through the field. Both Ferrari drivers, especially the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, used this mini-race format as a critical opportunity to perform important and valuable testing on the new aerodynamic and mechanical package, which notably also included updates to the rear suspension system of the SF-25.

Now let’s take a detailed look at how events unfolded for the Maranello team later in the afternoon at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot. The qualifying session started, and both Ferrari cars immediately headed out onto the challenging and slippery track surface. On this occasion, the two red cars were equipped with used Soft compound tires. During the formation lap, the team at Lewis Hamilton’s pit box communicated about specific engine mapping strategies to optimize performance. Neither of the two Ferrari drivers completed a full flying lap in this initial phase, similarly to the majority of the other drivers on the grid, as the primary objective was to evaluate the current track conditions using a set of so-called “scub” tires, which are a special intermediate compound designed for cooler and damp conditions.

After a brief pit stop, both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton fitted a fresh and brand-new set of Pirelli Soft tires and re-entered the circuit. They completed a warm-up lap intended to bring the tires up to optimal operating temperature, then activated qualifying engine and chassis modes and began their official push laps. The Ferrari SF-25 cars appeared significantly more balanced and stable during this phase compared to previous outings. Lewis Hamilton started strongly, setting a fast time in the first sector, but overall the pace shown by Charles Leclerc proved to be more effective and consistent. They then made another quick pit stop before heading back out for a final flying lap.

Lewis Hamilton reported via radio that the tire warm-up procedure had not gone ideally, probably due to imperfect heating and grip levels. Ferrari continued to use Soft tires in the subsequent attempt: new Soft compounds were mounted on Lewis Hamilton’s car, while Charles Leclerc reused the already slightly worn set. The Monegasque driver sought to gain additional confidence with the updated car setup, while his British teammate was prepared to complete a fully competitive lap if necessary. Both drivers successfully passed the threshold to reach Q2 without significant difficulties.

Or at least, that was the impression at the time: Lewis Hamilton’s last recorded lap time was unfortunately deleted for exceeding track limits at the exit of the high-speed Eau Rouge-Raidillon complex. This was a cruel and unfortunate setback for the seven-time world champion, who was classified 16th and thus, incredibly, eliminated from Q1. This allowed the young driver Gabriel Bortoleto to advance instead to 15th place, while drivers Franco Colapinto, Kimi Antonelli (for the second time), and the two Aston Martin cars driven by Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll failed to advance.

Ferrari therefore was forced to tackle Q2 with only one driver on track. Charles Leclerc returned to the circuit for his first flying lap attempt, beginning with a warm-up lap to properly heat the Pirelli tires bearing the red sidewall, which are the Soft compound. He activated the warm-up mode on the car and paid particular attention to careful management of the tires’ temperature and wear. While the traction from the SF-25 was not entirely convincing or consistent, the car seemed to be slightly more stable compared to the earlier runs in the weekend.

However, the rear of the car remained somewhat unstable: despite increasing the angle of the main flap on the rear wing, the aerodynamic balance of the car was still rather light and underloaded. In the section between the fast Pouhon corner and the following chicane, a slight porpoising effect could be observed, with the car experiencing small but noticeable bouncing movements on the asphalt. The impression was that there was still some margin for technical improvements to be made. Charles Leclerc completed the flying lap and placed himself in fourth position. He also reported a GPS malfunction, which required an immediate intervention from the engineers.

After a brief stop in the pits, car number 16 went back out on the track with another fresh set of Soft tires. The team requested that he push hard on the in-lap to cross the timing line in time, but an error at the very first corner, La Source, combined with a few small mistakes in the second sector, forced him to abort the attempt despite already surpassing the cutoff time. The Ferrari looked more solid compared to previous sessions but was still grappling with technical limits that needed to be corrected in the following sessions. Drivers Esteban Ocon, Oliver Bearman, Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg, and Carlos Sainz failed to progress further.

With McLaren and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull maintaining a clearly visible gap ahead, Charles Leclerc focused heavily on the proper warming of his tires before starting the crucial flying lap. At the first corner, he ran slightly wide and had to make several corrections on the steering wheel between turns three and four, and again between corners twelve and thirteen. Apart from those moments, the lap was very clean, although a certain degree of understeer was noticeable.

This lack of rotation in the chassis limited his precision when entering corners, preventing him from consistently hitting the apex at the ideal line. The lap time he set provisionally placed him in fourth position. During the cooldown lap, he suggested a minor adjustment to the front wing to increase aerodynamic downforce and improve the car’s handling, especially through the tricky second sector. The Maranello team quickly approved the suggestion and promptly made the necessary adjustment. With less than two minutes remaining in the session, the SF-25 re-entered the track for one final attempt.

On a fresh new set of Soft tires, Charles Leclerc completed a flawless flying lap, optimizing every section of the track. He managed to extract the maximum performance from the car and finished just over three-tenths of a second behind one of the McLaren drivers, effectively halving the gap compared to the previous day’s times. Despite the anticipated challenges that lie ahead for the main race, there remains a strong sense of satisfaction within the team for having contained the performance deficit and, most importantly, for finishing ahead of Max Verstappen in the official qualifying classification for the Belgian Grand Prix.