Hamilton Notes Handling Issues Following Crash at Belgian Grand Prix Practice<

Despite qualifying just 0.002 seconds behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc after a crash in the third free practice session, Lewis Hamilton views his performance as a missed opportunity rather than a successful recovery. After colliding with the barriers at the Fagnes exit on Saturday, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion fell short of his potential during the qualifying session.

Leclerc and Hamilton secured fifth and sixth place respectively at Spa-Francorchamps. While these positions align with expectations for the Scuderia—given the anticipated power unit deficit to Mercedes on the high-speed Ardennes circuit—the results do not fully reflect the car’s potential. While Leclerc’s efforts were hampered by an erroneously displayed yellow flag, Hamilton felt he could have achieved a higher starting position.

Hamilton credited the Maranello engineers for their rapid repairs between FP3 and qualifying but noted that the urgent turnaround resulted in a subtle imbalance in the car’s rear end. Although the SF-26 specification remained unchanged, the time constraints required to prepare the car for qualifying meant the setup was not identical to its previous configuration, costing him approximately one or two tenths of a second per lap.

“I think something wasn’t the same on the rear suspension, so the balance wasn’t the same as I had in FP3, when the car was feeling really great,” Hamilton explained.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Dom Gibbons / Formula 1 via Getty Images

“The guys did a great job repairing the car and these things happen, you move on. I did the best I could in qualifying; I think my laps were pretty decent. They pushed right until the last minute to get the thing fixed, so I’m just grateful they did, and I hope the car is still OK for the race.”

Regarding the half-second gap to polesitter Kimi Antonelli, Hamilton was uncertain if the deficit was primarily due to power unit performance. “I’m not quite sure, I haven’t seen the overlay, so I definitely know I was losing some time in my last sector. But they’ve been up on deployment all weekend, and we expected that on track given the long straights.”

Despite the minor setup discrepancies, Hamilton remains optimistic about his podium prospects, noting the car’s impressive pace during long runs in the third practice session.

“In FP3 the car was feeling really good and I did a bit of a long run and the car was feeling great,” he said. “It is a slightly different, subtly different car setup-wise, so I’m still hoping it’s good for tomorrow.”

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