Mixed feelings at Ferrari after Sprint qualifying
Respectively 4th and 18th in Sprint qualifying, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton had mixed fortunes.
The weather was beautiful and warm at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit on Friday. An ideal time to enjoy the spectacle offered by the 20 Formula 1 drivers and to see the bright red shine of the cars driven by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Unfortunately for the fans of the seven-time world champion, the Ferrari number 44 only made a brief appearance on track Friday afternoon. Having spun at the bus stop chicane during his last fast lap attempt, Hamilton only ranked 18th for the Sprint race.
« The day was a real challenge with little time to evaluate the developments before qualifying. I was on a fast lap when I suddenly lost the rear, which caught me by surprise. We don’t know exactly what caused it, but we will analyze the data with the team so that it goes better for the race. »
With only 15 laps scheduled in the Sprint race, Hamilton will have a tough task to climb back into the Top 8 for points.
On the other side of the garage, Charles Leclerc had more success by qualifying 4th behind the top three in the championship, even though he believes the gap is even larger than usual with the McLarens.
Mixed feelings today. On one hand, I’m happy because the car feels good on the track, which means we’ve made a good step forward and validated the updates. On the other hand, we are still seven-tenths off pole position, and McLaren seems faster than usual on this circuit. Fourth for the Sprint race, there was nothing more to extract from the car today.
Meet at 12 p.m. this Saturday for the Sprint race.
