Scuderia Ferrari placed a strategic bet on a lower-downforce version of the SF-25 driven by Charles Leclerc to maximize straight-line speed and become the closest challenger to the seemingly untouchable McLaren cars. The strategy paid off, helping the Italian team strengthen its hold on second place in the 2025 Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton staged a remarkable comeback in wet conditions, climbing from 18th to seventh place thanks to a perfectly timed switch from intermediate tyres to slicks.
The Sunday race at Spa-Francorchamps brought Ferrari its fifth podium of the 2025 Formula 1 season and a strong points haul that further consolidated the team’s position as McLaren’s nearest rival in the constructors’ standings. Most importantly, at the end of the 44 laps of the Belgian Grand Prix, both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton appeared visibly satisfied—a sight that has become rare in recent races.
The conclusions that emerged from the Belgian Grand Prix weekend highlight the progress made by the technical department at Scuderia Ferrari. While the upgrades represent a step forward, it is important not to confuse this with a breakthrough capable of seriously challenging McLaren’s dominance. At this stage, Ferrari finds itself clearly ahead of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team and is able to compete with Max Verstappen, particularly when the Red Bull Racing team makes missteps with its technical strategies—a scenario that has become more frequent in recent months. However, McLaren currently operates in a league of its own.
In addition to the well-balanced performance brought by the latest aerodynamic upgrades, Ferrari executed a strong weekend from a strategic standpoint. The team’s decision not to increase downforce before Saturday’s qualifying session—unlike Red Bull’s approach—proved to be the right one. Equally crucial was the team’s flawless call to bring Lewis Hamilton into the pits at the optimal moment to change from intermediate tyres, used at the start of the race, to slicks as the track dried. That decision allowed the seven-time Formula 1 World Champion to convert a solid recovery drive into a surprising finish inside the points. Following a disastrous qualifying session on Saturday, Ferrari opted to start Hamilton from the pit lane. This allowed the team to fit a new power unit and implement a revised setup that was more suited to wet conditions.
Hamilton made the most of the technical advantage in the early phases of the Grand Prix, delivering a charge through the field fueled by determination and a desire to make up for the previous day’s struggles. Lewis Hamilton expressed some frustration about the rolling start procedure (“They kept going around in circles… we didn’t need a rolling start”), but perhaps overlooked the high risk of first-corner contact at Spa-Francorchamps—especially when starting from the back of the grid. The decisive moment in Hamilton’s race came at the end of Lap 11, when the call to switch to slick tyres proved to be a turning point. “It was a perfect choice,” said Hamilton afterward. Team Principal Frederic Vasseur declined to clarify whether the call had come from Hamilton himself or from the strategy team, stating: “We don’t separate the drivers from the team—it’s always a collective decision.”
Setting up Lewis Hamilton’s SF-25 car with higher downforce obviously came with some drawbacks as the track dried. In the second half of the race, the car’s increased aerodynamic drag meant that Hamilton lacked the top speed necessary to attempt an overtake on Alexander Albon’s Williams on the straights. Moreover, he was required to perform repeated lift-and-coast maneuvers throughout the latter stages of the Grand Prix—not due to temperature concerns this time, but because of fuel consumption issues, which were a direct consequence of the high-downforce setup in dry conditions.
By contrast, Charles Leclerc’s race was more linear in its development but ultimately more profitable. The Monegasque driver built the foundation for his eventual third-place finish during the opening laps of the race, especially in the early moments when it appeared inevitable that Max Verstappen would overtake him. Managing a low-downforce car in damp track conditions, with Max Verstappen looming just behind, was no easy task. However, as the racing surface gradually dried, the tide turned in Leclerc’s favor. During the second half of the race, Max Verstappen attempted to mount an attack on the Ferrari along the Kemmel straight, but even with his DRS (Drag Reduction System) activated, the added downforce on his car prevented him from getting close enough to make a serious move on Charles Leclerc.
“It wasn’t guaranteed that today’s race would be fully wet,” said Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur. “In the end, it turned out that way. It’s always a bit of a gamble because even this morning I didn’t expect to see the sun.” That same sun will now accompany Ferrari to the next round at the Hungaroring, where Charles Leclerc believes that the technical upgrades introduced at Spa could be particularly beneficial in low-speed corners.
“It’s never easy to introduce new components during a sprint weekend,” Vasseur confirmed, “but we didn’t want to postpone everything until Budapest. We’ll see how it goes next weekend. So far, low-speed corners haven’t been one of our strong points. We know we have room for improvement, but I’m quite confident that the data we collected and the testing we carried out this weekend will bear fruit.”
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