Ferrari showed signs of progress at the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix, as Charles Leclerc qualified in fourth position for the Sprint session with the updated SF-25 featuring a newly introduced rear suspension system. Leclerc ended up close behind Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, offering encouraging signs for the Italian team. According to the available data, the updates brought to the car appear to be working. However, there is concern within the team that its competitors—particularly McLaren and Red Bull Racing—are improving at a faster pace. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton had one of his most difficult Fridays of the season, raising questions about his short-term focus.
With only one hour of Free Practice and a single Sprint Qualifying session available, it is still too early to make definitive judgments about the true potential of the revised SF-25. The situation is further complicated by the diverging performances of the two Ferrari drivers. While Charles Leclerc delivered a solid lap that earned him fourth on the grid and kept him within striking distance of the front-runners, Lewis Hamilton experienced what can only be described as his most challenging Friday of the year so far.
Charles Leclerc offered an honest assessment of the day: he stated that he felt conflicted, because although he was pleased with how the car behaved on track and believed the team had taken a clear step forward with the upgrades, he was still frustrated by the seven-tenths gap to pole position. He noted that McLaren appeared to be even faster than usual at Spa-Francorchamps, particularly in qualifying trim.
When assessing Ferrari’s current position, it is also important to factor in Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen, who may well emerge as Ferrari’s main rival in the second half of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship season. In this case, Leclerc was about three-tenths of a second off the Dutch driver’s pace. Ferrari Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur remained optimistic, saying that Leclerc had put together an impressive lap that placed him close to both Norris and Verstappen, proving the team is heading in the right direction. According to Fred Vasseur, Ferrari has good reason to be satisfied with its progress.
Ferrari’s engineering department confirmed that the data gathered from the new upgrade package matched their expectations. However, more clarity will come during the race simulations in Saturday’s main session. No driver managed to complete long runs with full fuel loads during FP1, so tire degradation and race pace remain unknown variables for now.
Hamilton: An Isolated Error or a Bigger Issue?
After his extended technical debrief on Thursday discussing Ferrari’s development direction, Lewis Hamilton was notably terse when reacting to his poor performance in Sprint Qualifying. He explained that he had been on a promising lap when he experienced a sudden rear lock-up under braking that caught him by surprise. Hamilton admitted that the team had not yet identified the cause but would analyze the telemetry data together to better understand the issue and make the most of the information gathered so far ahead of Saturday’s sessions.
His shocking elimination in Q1 came after a critical mistake at the ‘Bus Stop’ chicane. However, this was not the only costly error he made during the session. On his first flying lap, Hamilton went off the track at Turn 15 (Stavelot), ending what had been a very competitive attempt up to that point. Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur confirmed that, prior to the off-track excursion, Hamilton had a six-tenths advantage over Charles Leclerc in that sector.
There is no denying that the SF-25 is a challenging car to handle—something even the most experienced drivers struggle with—and that is likely to remain the case until the end of the season in Abu Dhabi. Hamilton himself has pointed out what he believes Ferrari still lacks in order to make a true step forward. With his wealth of experience, Lewis Hamilton tends to take a long-term view, always aiming for the highest possible targets. And in that context, it is hard to disagree with him when he says that this Ferrari would not be a race-winning car even in the hands of the very best drivers.
Yet another dimension of the situation should be considered. Lewis Hamilton’s most important task at this stage remains maximizing the performance of the SF-25 in its current form. And on this front, the seven-time World Champion appears to be struggling.
Although the new updates have not yet delivered a dramatic leap in overall performance—and it may take at least one more race weekend to fully evaluate the SF-25’s upgraded package—Charles Leclerc managed to qualify on the second row of the grid. That alone marks a significant improvement for Ferrari, especially when compared to the difficult Fridays earlier in the season. While long-term development perspectives matter greatly, as Hamilton himself often emphasizes, it is also crucial to focus on the present. And right now, the British driver is extracting very little from the car—something that cannot be solely blamed on the machinery.
In truth, every driver not behind the wheel of a McLaren currently finds themselves in a similar situation: chasing performance in a car that cannot match the MCL39’s superior balance and efficiency.
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