There is a fresh sense of division inside the Scuderia Ferrari garage once again, as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton appear to have differing opinions during the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix weekend at the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton arrived in Belgium determined to maximise their results and close the performance gap to the McLaren Formula 1 Team. However, this goal already seemed out of reach during the Sprint Race. The Monegasque driver qualified in fourth place, while seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton could manage no better than eighteenth on the grid. At the chequered flag, Charles Leclerc maintained his starting position, while Lewis Hamilton remained trapped further down the order, stuck in a DRS train with no opportunity to progress.
Following the conclusion of the Sprint event, the British driver’s comments sparked a wave of speculation and raised more than a few eyebrows. Lewis Hamilton stated that this was “the first time” he had experienced the new upgrade package that Ferrari had introduced at Spa-Francorchamps.
He also claimed that part of the development package had already been tested “by Charles Leclerc in Montréal,” whereas, in his case, he had only sampled it “yesterday.” However, based on all available reports and sources, Ferrari did not bring any aerodynamic or mechanical updates to the Canadian Grand Prix earlier this season.
Hamilton criticises Ferrari or reveals internal pressure from the comparison with Leclerc?
Lewis Hamilton’s words have been difficult to fully interpret. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, one could assume that the British driver may have simply forgotten the precise timeline of Ferrari’s upgrade programme during the 2025 Formula 1 season. Such slip-ups can happen, even among the most experienced drivers.
However, when analysing the situation more closely, some might suspect that a hint of unease is beginning to surface. After achieving a strong performance at Silverstone—where he came close to a podium finish following an intense battle with Nico Hülkenberg’s Sauber—Hamilton had declared with confidence that he finally understood what to request from Ferrari’s engineers in order to improve the car.
Even in difficult races, the 103-time Grand Prix winner had maintained optimism, stating that, “You can still gather a lot of information even when the result isn’t great. I think I now know what to explain to the team and what I don’t want to see in the car.”
Yet in Belgium, those hopeful statements proved ineffective. During the Sprint Qualifying session, Hamilton was clearly off the pace. The reality is that he made a mistake in setup, whereas Charles Leclerc was at least in the fight for the front row, ultimately falling short only due to McLaren’s superior pace—a gap of seven tenths of a second is still considerable.
To his credit, Lewis Hamilton did take full responsibility for the mistake, explaining that, “In the end, I got the setup wrong and probably applied too much brake pressure. It’s clearly my fault.” Even after the regular Grand Prix qualifying session—where he ended up in 16th place on the grid—Hamilton apologised to the team and acknowledged the error as his own.
Ferrari shows two different faces at Spa
On the other side of the Ferrari garage, Charles Leclerc appeared visibly more upbeat and positive about the team’s direction. The Monegasque driver praised the new upgrade package, stating that “the updates are definitely going in the right direction.” Still, he was quick to temper expectations by pointing out that the gap to McLaren remains too large to realistically challenge them: “It’s difficult to imagine that we can consistently catch and fight the two McLaren cars.”
It is not the first time that the two Scuderia Ferrari drivers have voiced conflicting assessments regarding the performance of the SF-25 Formula 1 car. However, what makes this situation particularly unusual is the impression—intended or not—that Lewis Hamilton may be suggesting unequal treatment within the team. Once again, we can choose to give Lewis Hamilton the benefit of the doubt. It is entirely possible that his comment about the Montréal update was a simple misstep. But it must remain a one-time occurrence. If it happens again, people might begin to wonder whether there is more going on behind the scenes.
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