Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have their work cut out if they want to finish on the podium at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Oscar Piastri took pole position from Lando Norris in qualifying, with both Ferrari drivers a long way off the pace of their McLaren rivals.
It wasn’t a huge surprise to see Max Verstappen and George Russell qualify ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc on Saturday.
However, Isack Hadjar’s career-best result of fourth means that Fred Vasseur’s drivers will start sixth and seventh at the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday.
What was most interesting to see after the session was how both drivers reacted to their performances.
Hamilton looked set to qualify ahead of Leclerc until the Monegasque driver pipped him in Q3 to secure his spot on the third row of the grid.
Many would have expected Hamilton’s sombre mood from previous races to have continued for that reason, but instead, it was Leclerc who was berating himself after the session.
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Photo by Andrea Diodato/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesCharles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s completely differing reactions to Dutch Grand Prix qualifying
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the session, Leclerc said: “I’m very disappointed with myself, to be honest.
“I haven’t done the job today, and I’ve been very poor. The whole weekend has been a little bit on the back foot on my side. I’ve been trying to change and to chase something that maybe wasn’t in the car this weekend for one reason or another.
“We were losing a lot of lap time in two, three corners. I guess that kind of stayed the same during qualifying. Not to an extreme extent as much as in free practice, but still, we were losing.
“By trying to find something that wasn’t in the car, I think the consistency of the weekend had been hurt a little bit, and I just didn’t do a good job, especially in qualifying – I’m really not happy with my Q3 lap.”
Hamilton’s reaction to the session was the complete opposite of Leclerc’s, and he explained: “It’s definitely encouraging, at least on my side of the garage, to have a better result.
“The boys in the garage deserve it and the team deserve it, so I’m happy I could be there or thereabouts.”
Asked by The Race why he suddenly felt more comfortable, Hamilton continued: “There are some things I’ve changed on the way in[to the weekend] – which enable me to start on the right foot, a better foot.
“Set-up changes, I think we’ve really worked well together with the engineers this weekend and it’s not been up and down on changes, it’s been quite stable, just made small tweaks, really really small tweaks, and therefore it’s been just trying to gain more and confidence in the car and I think that’s what’s happened the past couple of days.
“It definitely feels like it’s been one of the most solid couple of days so far of the year.”
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Jacques Villeneuve and Naomi Schiff discuss Lewis Hamilton’s mood change at the Dutch Grand Prix
Jacques Villeneuve was speaking on Sky Sports F1 (30/8 3:52 pm) about the difference in the mood between Leclerc and Hamilton, and he said: “It’s funny and it’s weird to see how different the two drivers are.
“Charles is really upset and berating himself, beating himself up, and Lewis is actually super happy.
“If you look at the last race, and now, he’s on par with his teammate, he’s had a good weekend, and like you said, he’s changed his mindset, and that’s affecting his driving.”
Fellow pundit Naomi Schiff followed up Villeneuve’s comments and suggested: “The problem is they’re dealing with a compromised setup. They’re working around an issue that they can’t seem to solve, from what we understand, and they’re trying to find different ways to manage it and to extract as much as they can out of qualifying, but to still end the race in a position where they’re legal and they haven’t got too much plank wear.
“And unfortunately, it’s not ideal for them, but what I would be really interested to understand is when Lewis has said that he’s changed his approach, what does that mean?
“Of course, we’ve had the summer break, he’s hit reset, but ultimately his issue was the fact that he wasn’t getting along with the way the car was handling, and he wasn’t able to extract what he could out of it.
“So, I wonder what’s changed besides just the mindset to make him feel that comfortable, especially on a circuit like this, where if you’re not feeling the car, you can very easily make a mistake and go off.”
Jacques Villeneuve tells Ferrari how to fix Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s issues
This season has almost been completely written off by Ferrari, although they will almost certainly have a Monza-specific update package arriving next week.
Leclerc will want to repeat his heroics from last season, but the chances of that happening appear slim at best.
Villeneuve has told Ferrari how to solve their issues with both drivers, and it involves swapping out their race engineers.
He’s adamant that communication and internal harmony within the team are the problem, and Hamilton’s internal documents suggest he wants more open communication as well.
Ferrari find themselves in a tricky position, and all of their hopes are being put on 2026 and the sport’s changing regulations helping them find their way back to the front of the grid.
However, Vasseur will be delighted to see Hamilton’s mood change so dramatically, while he needs a way to improve Leclerc’s outlook.