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Ferrari has ensured those problems haven\u2019t been kept under control. The Italian team has surged forward in the last three rounds to expose certain fragilities in Mercedes\u2019s car, like title leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli\u2019s bizarre wheel shield failure that cost him a likely victory in Silverstone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a car capable of fighting at the front and scoring heavily, but we have not converted that potential into the best possible results,\u201d Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said.<\/p>\n
\u201cReliability issues have cost us points, and in a championship this competitive, that is something we cannot afford.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have left too much on the table recently. We need to make sure that doesn\u2019t happen again starting this weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no value in having the pace if we don\u2019t bring home the result.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those reliability problems have kept Ferrari within striking distance on the title table long enough to upgrade its way into genuine contention.<\/p>\n
It arrives in Belgium having won two of the last three grands prix, a proposition that would have seemed totally improbable only a month or so ago.<\/p>\n
Mercedes\u2019s lead has been slashed to 78 points. Antonelli\u2019s lead over Lewis Hamilton in third is just 32 points, while Charles Leclerc is clinging on to contention at 71 points adrift.<\/p>\n
With just two rounds remaining before the mid-season break, is the complexion of the championship beginning to change?<\/p>\n
‘F*** THIS’ Verstappen rages after crash | 01:09<\/p>\n
CAN FERRARI REPEAT ITS SILVERSTONE SURPRISE?<\/p>\n
The nature of Ferrari\u2019s wins tells us something about its form.<\/p>\n
Hamilton\u2019s victory in Barcelona was dominant, even accounting for the virtual safety car that guaranteed it, and though Leclerc\u2019s win in the UK was more fortunate thanks to Antonelli\u2019s technical problems, it was no less heartening for how competitive the Ferrari was.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a circuit that shouldn\u2019t have suited the scarlet car, yet it was fast enough to force Mercedes to resort to strategy in a bid to get the lead.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s raised hopes that Ferrari should at least be competitive at \u2018average\u2019 circuits less sensitive to engine performance. Next week\u2019s Hungarian Grand Prix, as the slow and twisty Hungaroring, could see the pendulum swing towards the Scuderia, for example.<\/p>\n
PIT TALK PODCAST: Speculation hits fever pitch over a possible Max Verstappen defection from Red Bull Racing \u2014 but what are his options, and is McLaren realistically one of them? Plus: we look ahead to this weekend\u2019s Belgian Grand Prix, the first of the final two races before the midseason break. | Listen to Pit Talk here ><\/a><\/p>\n At the height of the European season, this is the moment for Ferrari to try to state its case.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s time to really crack the whip and do better,\u201d Hamilton said, per the F1 website. \u201cI don\u2019t know what to expect this weekend. if I\u2019m honest. with longer straights, but \u2026 I\u2019m really proud of the team and incremental steps that we\u2019re taking.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a combination of a lot of things: better execution through the weekends, better understanding of the car, how hard the team has worked to develop the car and move it in the direction that both drivers are pushing it towards.\u201d<\/p>\n Spa-Francorchamps makes similar demands of the car to Silverstone, rewarding efficient aerodynamics that can generate downforce for the high-speed corners without sacrificing too much straight-line speed for the long flat-out blasts.<\/p>\n It is, though, potentially a little bit less critical for the battery, with more big braking zones and some slower corners to help recover energy. That should, in theory, benefit Ferrari, given this is an area in which Mercedes excels.<\/p>\n Leclerc, though, was refusing to buy into the hype.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, Silverstone and Spa are two tracks that will suit Mercedes a lot better,\u201d he said. \u201cAt Silverstone it was honestly a surprise for us also to be strong, but we were also lucky on the Sunday, because Kimi was probably as strong as what we expected.<\/p>\n \u201cI think in Spa Mercedes is still the favourite.\u201d<\/p>\n Though Ferrari can\u2019t afford many more heavy losses this season, the difference between victory and defeat this weekend won\u2019t necessarily define the team\u2019s championship hopes.<\/p>\n Defeat at one of the sport\u2019s most extreme, high-speed circuits wouldn\u2019t be disastrous if Ferrari were relatively competitive, similar to Silverstone.<\/p>\n With another engine upgrade due after the mid-season break, Ferrari might still have Mercedes in range.<\/p>\n McLaren’s British driver Lando Norris will be given grid penalty.Source: AFP<\/p>\n McLAREN MAKES PENALTY CALL FOR LAST RACE BEFORE UPGRADE<\/p>\n Lando Norris and Piastri arrive in Belgium as the reigning pole-getter and race-winner respectively, but they\u2019re not expected to repeat either feat this weekend.<\/p>\n Aside from McLaren\u2019s relative lack of competitiveness, Norris starts the weekend carrying a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change.<\/p>\n Both McLaren drivers will receive new engines this weekend, which will tip the reigning champion over his limit for a particular component.<\/p>\n Ironically that\u2019s because the component in question \u2014 the control electronics \u2014 terminally failed in China, leaving him unable to start the race.<\/p>\n Piastri is now on the bubble too, having used all three of his \u2018free\u2019 control electronics units.<\/p>\n McLaren has consciously selected Spa-Francorchamps as the circuit to serve the penalty, as the track is generally conducive to overtaking \u2014 more so, at least, than the upcoming races in Hungary and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a penalty strategy Verstappen has used to great effect at Spa in the past. He started the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix from 14th and won the race, and he did the same from sixth in 2023. He started 11th and finished fourth in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201c[I\u2019ve] just got to take it on the chin and deal with some of the penalties that I have coming up, but this is certainly a better track to take the penalties than the next two,\u201d Norris said. \u201cIt\u2019s part of it, but we can still look forward to try and have a good weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n McLaren will use its new rear wing \u2014 a take on the Ferrari rotating device \u2014 this weekend too, in another small boost after Silverstone, one of its least competitive weekends of the year.<\/p>\n Belgium is also one of Piastri\u2019s best tracks \u2014 he\u2019s scored more points at Spa-Francorchamps than he has anywhere bar Qatar.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s little optimism for a victory charge before the team\u2019s big upgrade package due next weekend in Hungary.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m probably not going to be able to repeat the results of last year unfortunately, but it\u2019s always a fun track to drive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor this weekend, I\u2019m not sure where we\u2019re going to sit. We\u2019re going to be similar to where we have been, which is probably the third or fourth quickest car, depending on how competitive Red Bull look, really. That\u2019s just the reality of where we are at the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll try our best this weekend and see what comes our way, and then try and get on the front foot from Budapest onwards.\u201d<\/p>\n Verstappen crashes out in British GP | 02:19<\/p>\n CAN RUSSELL GENERATE ANY MOMENTUM?<\/p>\n It might sound odd to say for a driver who has taken 43 points out of his title deficit over the last three rounds, but George Russell is in dire need of some momentum.<\/p>\n The pre-season favourite has been smacked around by his teammate almost all year. Not since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix has he looked compelling as Mercedes\u2019s lead driver, with Antonelli taking the ascendancy almost immediately afterwards with five consecutive grand prix victories.<\/p>\n Some poor luck was part of that story, but Antonelli\u2019s almost equal misfortune in recent races has reset the ledger, with even Russell acknowledging that his 25-point deficit was reflective of his underperformance relative to his teammate.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year we\u2019ve seen a lot of trends that my style isn\u2019t quite suiting what the power unit needs, what the tyres need, and we\u2019re just needing to adapt the set-up to something that I\u2019ve not really run before,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of forcing me to drive a bit more consciously rather than subconsciously, which is also a bit of a negative. I\u2019m hoping I\u2019m in a bit of a learning pit before I can then take advantage of those learnings.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess it\u2019s like a golfer changing his swing \u2014 it\u2019s probably going to take a small step backwards first, and then you relearn that new swing and it\u2019s better. That feels a little bit where I\u2019m at at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n He needs to move past that sooner rather than later, however.<\/p>\n If Ferrari\u2019s challenge is sustained, it may not take long for Mercedes to begin wondering whether it needs to be prioritising one driver to maximise the odds of claiming the title.<\/p>\n Russell has yet to argue convincingly that he should be that driver. Antonelli isn\u2019t allowing him to.<\/p>\n Despite the teenager\u2019s inexperience, he\u2019s been performing relentlessly all season \u2014 he\u2019s been beaten by Russell only once since Australia: in Austria, where yellow flags confusion was a major contributor.<\/p>\n It\u2019s only that unreliability has struck him twice in the last three races that his margin has been so dramatically reduced.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very frustrating, but this is motorsport, so things like this happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pace is good and the momentum is still there despite a few difficulties that we had previously. That\u2019s a real positive.<\/p>\n \u201cI just need to deliver and try to maximise all the things that I have in my control. The rest, I cannot really do much about it, other than just try to drive as fast as I can and keep delivering in performances.\u201d<\/p>\n As we fast approach the halfway point of the season, there\u2019s no real sign of the dynamic changing inside Mercedes.<\/p>\n Cam Waters aiming for the Championship? | 01:03<\/p>\n RED BULL RACING ROLLS BACK UPGRADES AS VERSTAPPEN RUMOURS CONTINUE<\/p>\n Though Oscar Piastri rebuffed speculation that he could be replaced by Max Verstappen at McLaren next season<\/a>, the Dutchman wasn\u2019t anywhere near as equivocal about his future with Red Bull Racing, which remains in doubt.<\/p>\n Verstappen is widely believed to be able to exit his contract if he\u2019s outside the top two in the championship after next weekend\u2019s Hungarian Grand Prix<\/a>. His failure to finish the British Grand Prix has made that a mathematical certainty.<\/p>\n