Ferrari resolved the power unit issue that had severely affected Charles Leclerc’s straight-line speed in final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, allowing the Monegasque driver to recover in qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps. The fault had cost Charles Leclerc between four and five tenths of a second on the circuit’s long straights, but the team identified it between Q1 and Q2.
Charles Leclerc had ended FP3 sixth, 0.760 seconds behind pacesetter Kimi Antonelli. Team radio messages during the 60-minute session had made it clear that his Ferrari was losing time in the first and third sectors, where Spa’s long full-throttle sections are most significant. Ferrari also tried changing the rear wing, but that did not solve the problem.
Ferrari identifies Charles Leclerc’s power unit issue
“There was an issue on the power unit that we managed to resolve,” Charles Leclerc explained after qualifying. “Fortunately, we noticed something in qualifying and made some changes. From then on, we were much more in line with our expectations. We had a problem that was difficult to understand; I was losing between four and five tenths on the straights on every lap.”
Ferrari’s recovery came against the backdrop of the MGU-K management challenge created by the FIA’s Spa energy rules, which has placed additional emphasis on deployment and energy usage around the 7.004km circuit.
Once his straight-line speed returned, Charles Leclerc immediately found another level. He set the second-fastest time in Q2, then produced a lap on his first Q3 attempt that, according to the report, would have been enough for the front row once Lando Norris serves his 10-place grid penalty. The final classification later left Charles Leclerc fourth, excluding Lando Norris’s penalty, ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Yellow flag leaves Charles Leclerc with Spa regret
Ferrari’s result matched its pre-weekend expectations, although there was still some frustration for Charles Leclerc. On his final Q3 run, he encountered a yellow flag at the entrance to the pit lane while approaching the Bus Stop chicane. His instinctive lift off the throttle cost him just over a tenth of a second, leaving him to wonder whether he could have beaten George Russell.
The team had arrived at Spa with measured expectations, as Charles Leclerc explained before the event, while the latest Belgian Grand Prix technical developments underlined how teams have been balancing efficiency and downforce at the high-speed venue.
Lewis Hamilton starts fifth after FP3 crash
Lewis Hamilton will start fifth after a qualifying session shaped by his FP3 accident. Ferrari had a major repair job to complete before qualifying, leaving the team with little time to properly finalise the seven-time world champion’s set-up.
“Lewis had confirmed a very quick pace from the beginning of the weekend,” Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur said. “But after an accident like the one he had, we managed to finish the car 30 seconds before the session, without having the time to complete a full set-up. I don’t know if we left something unexplored, but it is not the ideal way to prepare for qualifying.”
Despite that disruption, Ferrari remains firmly in the fight for the podium. There is little meaningful race-pace data available after Pierre Gasly’s FP2 accident prevented teams from completing their long runs, as reported by GP-News.net’s report on Pierre Gasly’s heavy FP2 crash.
“We will see tomorrow,” Frederic Vasseur concluded. “We are always a little stronger in the race than in qualifying; everything is still possible.” With Charles Leclerc’s power unit issue resolved and Lewis Hamilton still close to the front, Ferrari heads into the Belgian Grand Prix with both drivers in podium contention.
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