While the hospitality areas in the paddock of the 7.004-kilometre Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps were already being dismantled, George Russell’s disqualification from the 2024 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix was made official. This happened while Frederic Vasseur, Carlos Sainz, and Charles Leclerc were giving their last interviews to the media before the summer break.
The final race standings without George Russell’s Mercedes victory significantly change Ferrari’s outlook at the end of the Spa-Francorchamps weekend. Suddenly, Charles Leclerc finds himself on the podium, and the Italian side is able to limit the loss to Mercedes to just 2 points, bringing the deficit back to 79 points after it had dropped to 56 for two hours.
After the Belgian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc was far from positive in his comments regarding the performance of the SF-24 car. The Monegasque driver remarked that they were simply not fast enough and identified Ferrari as once again the fourth fastest car on the grid, behind rivals McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes, which performed better than expected. Charles Leclerc noted that it was challenging to keep Mercedes behind on a dry track like Spa-Francorchamps, and although they managed to keep Max Verstappen and Lando Norris behind towards the end, fourth place was the best they could achieve on track.
The official confirmation of George Russell’s disqualification may have slightly altered Charles Leclerc’s mood, but his perspective remained that Ferrari still falls short of the podium even when the standings shift, which is clearly frustrating. The Monegasque driver acknowledged that if a Red Bull had been ahead, he would have viewed the weekend positively. However, with Mercedes ahead and demonstrating a significant advantage, he could not consider the result in the Belgian Grand Prix very positive. While Mercedes with the old floor showed impressive performance, Ferrari with the new one did not meet the drivers’ expectations.
Considering the premises of the Spa-Francorchamps round, a third and a sixth place for Ferrari is an overall total that allows them to stay afloat, but especially for Charles Leclerc, there is a lot of disappointment. After starting from pole position, the Monegasque driver immediately yielded to Lewis Hamilton’s attack but stayed close to the Mercedes for much of the race. Frustration increased when, in the last stint with Hard tires, he saw the seven-time Formula 1 world champion pull away and Oscar Piastri grow larger in his mirrors until he was overtaken by the McLaren MCL38 on lap 36 of the Belgian Grand Prix.
At that point, Charles Leclerc appeared to be an easy target for the Max Verstappen – Lando Norris duo, but he managed to hold onto his position until the checkered flag. On the other hand, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur commented that the race was at a good level for them in terms of pure performance. The French manager noted that everyone was surprised by the very low degradation of the Hard tires and the very high degradation of the Medium tires. Although this could have been an advantage for Carlos Sainz, who started on the Hards, he began to experience a performance drop after about fifteen laps, which reinforced the plan for two stops.
Frederic Vasseur concluded that their overall pace was good, as they managed to finish ahead of the two Red Bull cars and a McLaren, a result that is not bad for them on a track like Spa-Francorchamps, which was expected to highlight the main weaknesses of the SF-24 single-seater. The Ferrari team boss believes they made progress in performance over the Belgian weekend, but they are still missing one or two tenths to be able to fight for victory again. While the team principal sees the glass half full, Charles Leclerc is indeed less optimistic. He sees many different winners on the top step of the podium, but for various reasons, it never seems to be Ferrari’s turn, which is starting to weigh on him.
