It was a mixed day of emotions for Scuderia Ferrari during the Sprint Qualifying session at the 2025 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, held at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit. On one side of the garage, Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc delivered a strong lap that secured him fourth place, giving the Maranello-based team a solid starting position for Saturday’s Sprint. On the other side, British driver Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in SQ1 after a costly error during his flying lap — a result that sharply contrasted with his team-mate’s performance.
Following the qualifying session, Ferrari Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur shared his impressions of the team’s performance and offered insight into the debut of the revised rear suspension system, which Ferrari introduced specifically for this demanding track nestled in the Ardennes forest.
Commenting on Charles Leclerc’s effort, Vasseur noted:
“I think Charles did a solid job. We struggled a bit at the beginning of the lap, but then we got back into the slipstream of Max Verstappen, and I believe Max tends to be more aggressive in qualifying than in the race. Still, Oscar Piastri was flying today — he created huge gaps to everyone and looked like he was on another planet. But we need to focus on ourselves. We have some margin for improvement, and we’ve only completed a handful of laps with the new suspension. There’s still work to do to fully understand how to extract performance from it, but we’re definitely heading in the right direction.”
Vasseur also addressed the complicated session for Lewis Hamilton:
“The real issue wasn’t just Lewis’s second lap, but rather the first one. He had a six-tenths advantage over Charles at one point, but then lost control of the car in Turn 15. That moment came right after Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s off-track excursion, which brought a lot of gravel onto the racing line. I can’t say for certain if that contributed to Lewis’s mistake, but immediately afterward he spun, and that lap had the potential to be quite strong. After that, in the second run, tyre wear made it difficult to recover. The real qualifying session is tomorrow, though. Obviously, it would have been better to have both cars start further ahead, as it would have helped us gather better data for fine-tuning the new suspension system. Starting from the back will make things tough for Lewis — overtaking at Spa isn’t easy — but the weekend is still long.”
When asked whether the new suspension might be better suited to Charles Leclerc’s driving style than Lewis Hamilton’s, Vasseur rejected that notion:
“I don’t think that’s the case. This morning, all the teams were uncertain about the level of aerodynamic downforce. We’re seeing unusually large performance gaps due to varying downforce levels here. Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon ran with low-downforce setups and were still very competitive. We’ll see during the race if that trend continues. Regarding the rear suspension, both cars were running with identical setups. The key for us now is to better understand how to make the suspension work efficiently and find the right compromise. But that takes laps on track — that’s what we need.”
Vasseur confirmed that the team views the new rear suspension as a positive step forward, even if the benefits may not immediately appear in the results:
“Yes, absolutely. The data we’ve collected matches our expectations, which is encouraging. But it’s important to remember that every team brought updates here. So, even if you gain three-tenths with your upgrade, you won’t necessarily see that gain on the stopwatch, because others have also improved.”
Asked about his preference between Sprint weekends and the traditional Grand Prix format, the French team boss expressed his support for the sprint concept:
“I personally like this format. Every session matters. Fans enjoy it too — the TV ratings are high, and the grandstands are packed. That’s great for Formula 1. Spa is always a challenging venue, especially with the unpredictable weather, and the Sprint format only increases the complexity.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Vasseur acknowledged the team will still face some unknowns, especially when it comes to race simulations with higher fuel loads:
“Yes, tomorrow we’ll have the chance to run with heavier fuel — up to 40 kilograms, though it won’t be a full tank. But we’ll take things step by step. We’ll start with tomorrow’s 20 laps and go from there.”
With Charles Leclerc aiming to stay competitive at the front and Lewis Hamilton looking to fight his way back from the rear of the grid, Ferrari’s weekend at Spa-Francorchamps still holds several opportunities. Most importantly, the feedback on the new suspension indicates a potentially valuable development path — even if it still requires fine-tuning under real race conditions.
