The Ferrari team is currently facing significant risks and challenges during this highly competitive Formula 1 weekend. At the Belgian Grand Prix held at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit, both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are running a modified version of the Ferrari SF-25 compared to the previous race weekends, featuring an extensively revised rear suspension system as well as a rear wing designed for lower aerodynamic drag with reduced downforce. The key and most immediate challenge, if it can be described as such, arises from the Sprint race format implemented at Spa-Francorchamps this year, which means there is only one single free practice session available to the teams for preparation. This limited track time provides far too little opportunity for the Ferrari engineers and drivers to gather the essential performance data and find the optimal car setup quickly enough to meet the demands of this fast-paced weekend.
In the first qualifying session, SQ1, Lewis Hamilton unfortunately exits early with the Ferrari team after a challenging start. Let’s take a detailed look at how events unfolded for the two Ferrari drivers in the qualifying session for the Sprint race. Both Ferrari cars entered the track for their first runs during this initial qualifying phase, starting their flying laps on the Medium tire compound—a different but essentially forced choice compared to Free Practice 1, where this particular tire compound had not been tested or used. The engineers were closely communicating with the drivers, reminding them about the critical importance of carefully managing tire warm-up temperatures and pressures to maximize performance. Charles Leclerc made a slight but costly mistake while changing direction between turns 12 and 13, whereas Lewis Hamilton lost front-end grip through the demanding Stavelot corner, effectively ruining his initial competitive lap attempt.
Lewis Hamilton’s lap time was very competitive and promising up until an error occurred in the second sector, which spoiled the overall final lap time and compromised his position. After a brief cooldown phase for the tires to regain optimal temperature and performance levels, both drivers returned to pushing hard on track; however, traffic congestion on the circuit complicated their attempts to improve their lap times. The benchmark time needed to advance to the next phase of qualifying was set at 1:42.2, but neither Charles Leclerc nor Lewis Hamilton managed to come even close to that target during their runs.
On his next flying lap attempt, the British world champion Lewis Hamilton lost complete control of the car under heavy braking at the Bus Stop chicane, performing a full spin that ended any chance of progressing to the next qualifying session. As a result, his qualifying session concluded prematurely and disappointingly in Q1. On the other hand, Charles Leclerc successfully completed his lap and provisionally took eighth place on the timing sheets. It was an extremely difficult and challenging start for Ferrari during this qualifying session, with one of the two cars immediately eliminated from contention. Other drivers who were also eliminated in Q1 included Alexander Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, and Kimi Antonelli.
Initially, it was not immediately clear what exactly caused Lewis Hamilton’s sudden spin and loss of control. The British driver later clarified in a post-session interview with F1TV that the rear end of his Ferrari SF-25 had locked up while turning into the corner, triggering the loss of control and resulting in the spin.
Lewis Hamilton expressed strong disappointment following the session, especially since the split times from his Ferrari suggested he was capable of advancing to the next round despite the car not showing particularly strong outright pace in terms of raw performance metrics.
In the second qualifying session, SQ2, Charles Leclerc was unfortunately the only driver left on track to represent Ferrari. The Monegasque driver returned to the circuit running on Medium tires as mandated by the regulations for this phase, carefully warming the tires before launching into his first flying lap. The lap was orderly and controlled, but it was clear that the Ferrari SF-25 struggled to be responsive and agile when changing direction quickly.
In the middle sector of the lap, the car showed clear difficulty in following the ideal racing line, struggling to precisely hit the apex in the more technical corners of the circuit. Despite this limitation, Charles Leclerc managed to register the second-best partial sector time at one point, which later dropped to third place. After completing a cooldown lap to manage tire temperatures, he returned to the pits to prepare for the final qualifying session, Q3.
The track temperature had dropped by a couple of degrees, benefiting those drivers who had decided to wait longer before their flying lap attempts. The session ended with some surprising eliminations, including Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, George Russell’s Mercedes—an unexpected and remarkable result—and both Aston Martin cars driven by Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
In the third and final qualifying session, SQ3, Ferrari revealed clear and evident limitations in performance. This decisive session highlighted just how far ahead McLaren currently is compared to other teams. Oscar Piastri impressively secured pole position, nearly half a second ahead of Max Verstappen, who was still competing closely with the two McLaren cars. Lando Norris qualified third but was notably six tenths of a second slower than his teammate Oscar Piastri, a significant margin considering the superiority of the McLaren MCL39 this season.
Charles Leclerc qualified fourth overall, placing Ferrari on the second row of the grid, a result that fell well below the expectations held by the team and fans after the modifications introduced for this particular weekend. After Q3, the Monegasque driver expressed on the team radio that “The gap to the others is incredible,” a clear indication of his frustration and disappointment. However, the Sprint race still presents an opportunity for Ferrari to continue working on improving the car ahead of the main qualifying session and the actual Grand Prix race.
Overall, the weekend has started on a very challenging note for Ferrari, especially considering the early elimination and visibly frustrated demeanor of Lewis Hamilton in Q1. The team now faces a steep uphill battle to maximize their performance during the remainder of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
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