Lewis Hamilton recovered well in the Belgian Grand Prix after a shock early exit when he had his lap time deleted due to a track limits.
The seven-time world champion was hopeful of a better qualifying session than the Sprint, after Hamilton suffered an uncharacteristic spin on his way to completing a lap and was forced to start at the back.
However, at the end of Q1, he had a lap time deleted due to track limits and was knocked out early. Hamilton cut a dejected figure in the media pen afterwards, especially on a weekend when Ferrari’s upgrades were meant to bring performance.
A strategic masterstroke in the changing conditions enabled Hamilton to go from 18th to 7th in the race, picking exactly the right moment to switch to the dry tyres.
It was a much better outcome than he was expecting, but Hamilton was still not happy about the weekend overall. Damon Hill thinks it will take a bit more time for things to click for Hamilton when speaking on the BBC Chequered Flag podcast.
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty ImagesDamon Hill thinks 2025 is bedding in year for Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari
Hamilton has been regularly outclassed by teammate Charles Leclerc in the races, and while he has delivered their only race victory at the Sprint race in China, Hill thinks the seven-time world champion is treating it like a bedding in year.
“You can understand why people think you can, if you’re quick, just jump in and off you go. But these cars are so complicated,” said Hill.
“When you’ve spent 10 years at Mercedes doing things a certain way, it takes an awful lot to get out of that mode of thinking. All the switches are in a different place. Loads of things you have to think about. The way the brakes work and the car feels, all these things are alien to you. And quite apart from the fact that a lot of people are speaking Italian, and he doesn’t know.
“It is difficult to bed yourself in, and he’s got a lot on his shoulders. I know he’s 40-something years old now. And he’s a seven-time, stroke, eight-time world champion. Nevertheless, you still feel it. He wants to deliver.
“It’s awfully hard when you’ve had a bad qualifying and you’ve got all this responsibility on your shoulders. I don’t care how much experience you’ve had. That is a tough one.”
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Ferrari needs time to understand car upgrades after Lewis Hamilton downplayed them
Hamilton was quick to downplay Ferrari’s updates in the Drivers’ Press Conference at the Belgian GP, outlining how they will need a few races to understand their impact.
Ferrari’s rear suspension was supposed to be a major upgrade that would fix the problems they have faced with ride height all season.
The new floor introduced at the Austrian GP was the first phase of this upgrade, while the suspension now completes this important package before the summer break.
While Ferrari looks out of contention for a title in 2025 due to McLaren’s consistency, it is important that the team has the correlation between the factory and track sorted if they want to stand a chance in 2026.