F1 Update: Lewis Hamilton faced difficulties on…see more
At Spa-Francorchamps, a venue renowned for challenging both drivers and cars, Lewis Hamilton faced difficulties on the first day of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. After recent strong performances—including three podium finishes in his last four races and a victory at Silverstone—Hamilton’s progress hit a hurdle as his Mercedes trailed behind the leaders, particularly McLaren, in FP1 and FP2.
Hamilton initially finished fifth in the first practice session but fell to 10th in FP2, over a second off the pace set by McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Hamilton voiced his frustration and confusion about the day’s performance.
“It was a really tough day, and I’m not sure what to make of it,” Hamilton admitted. “The car had been feeling great in recent races, but today was a different story. We tried to improve after the first session, but the changes didn’t seem to help.”
Despite adjustments made after FP1, Hamilton continued to struggle with the car’s handling on soft tires:
“It started off well, but I couldn’t make any progress on the soft tires. We have a lot of balance issues to address.”
The performance gap was attributed not only to car issues but also to better performances from competitors:
“While we made some progress in the second session, everyone else improved even more. Being 1.2 seconds behind McLaren is disappointing,” said the seven-time world champion. “If it rains, it might give us a better chance, as the car could perform better in wet conditions.”
Mercedes’ trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin, shared Hamilton’s concerns regarding the car’s balance and grip.
“We faced challenges with the car today, and we will work intensively overnight to make improvements for tomorrow. We’re losing time across all speeds, not just in certain corners, and our long-run performance is lacking as well,” Shovlin said, outlining plans for a thorough setup review using the team’s simulator in Brackley.
