Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur shared his thoughts following the end of the qualifying session for the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. The session highlighted two contrasting situations for the Italian team. Charles Leclerc managed to secure a solid fourth-place starting position, while seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton will start from 16th after his lap time was deleted during Q1 for exceeding track limits. The weather forecast remains uncertain for the race, adding another layer of unpredictability to the Grand Prix.
This weekend, Scuderia Ferrari debuted its long-awaited new rear suspension system on the SF-25. However, the car has not yet shown any clear signs of significant improvement in terms of single-lap performance. The engineering team believes that it will take time to fully understand and optimise this critical new component, which is a key part of Ferrari’s broader development plan for the current season.
Frédéric Vasseur’s Analysis
Frédéric Vasseur offered a detailed analysis of Scuderia Ferrari’s performance during Saturday’s qualifying session. He praised Charles Leclerc for delivering a strong final lap and emphasized the importance of continuing development work on the latest aerodynamic and mechanical package.
“I think Charles Leclerc did a very good job,” Vasseur commented. “His final lap was very strong. We are still trying to make progress with this package. Overall, we’ve had a good weekend, from the first session all the way to the final lap of qualifying. Let’s see what happens tomorrow—hopefully we can be competitive even if the conditions are a bit unusual.”
On the topic of the changing weather conditions predicted for the race, the Ferrari Team Principal explained that rain could provide a learning opportunity for the team: “If it rains, I don’t know if that would be better or worse. But it would certainly be helpful to understand how the car behaves in every kind of condition.”
Hamilton’s challenges and performance
Frédéric Vasseur also addressed Lewis Hamilton’s early elimination from Q1, defending the British driver by pointing out that the performance was there, but execution is still lacking. He firmly denied that Hamilton lacks focus, instead suggesting that the challenge is in bringing all the elements together.
“I don’t think Lewis Hamilton is lacking concentration. It’s just a matter of putting everything together,” Fred Vasseur stated. “The battle is very tight right now—you can see it between Charles and Max Verstappen as well. Lewis had a good pace, he was just behind Charles on that lap. What he’s missing is confidence, and that needs to be built up session after session.”
Vasseur then commented on the specific incident that saw Lewis Hamilton’s best time deleted due to track limits, which cost him a place in Q2. He emphasized that exceeding track limits is not about lacking confidence in the car, but more about execution: “Track limits aren’t really about how the car feels. Today, the pace was there. Yesterday, when he made the mistake, he was six-tenths ahead of Charles. In my view, it’s a matter of staying calm and putting everything together.”
Difficulties caused by the Sprint weekend format
The Sprint Race format used at Spa this weekend also complicated matters for the Scuderia. According to Fred Vasseur, it limited Ferrari’s ability to fine-tune its setup and gather meaningful long-run data: “It’s definitely not easy. You only get a few laps to prepare a clean qualifying run, and you can’t really do race simulations. You’re operating close to the limit in Free Practice 1 if you want to test anything new. But we’ve made some good improvements. If we can keep making similar steps in the future, we’ll be on the right path.”
Charles Leclerc’s tyre disadvantage in the Sprint Race
Fred Vasseur also addressed the situation that affected Charles Leclerc during the final stages of the Sprint Race, when the Monegasque driver lost time compared to his main rivals. He explained that Ferrari used a set of used tyres, while McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were on fresh rubber.
“In the Sprint Race, we had a used tyre set, while McLaren had new tyres. Charles pushed a bit harder during the opening laps. Our pace was good early on. The McLaren cars were held up by the Red Bull initially, but their pace was ultimately three to four tenths faster than ours.” – the French manager concluded.
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