Lewis Hamilton says he “always loves races like that” after ending his troubled Belgian Grand Prix Sprint weekend on a brighter note by charging back into the points in Sunday’s wet-dry race.
Hamilton had endured a weekend to forget at Spa-Francorchamps up to Sunday’s rain-affected running.
He suffered two first-round qualifying exits which had left him starting near the back of the field for both Saturday’s Sprint – where he went on to finish 15th – and Sunday’s main race.
But after Ferrari had taken his car out of parc ferme, fitting a new power unit, ahead of a race that had been expected to be hit by wet weather, Hamilton’s weekend belatedly came alive from 18th in the starting order
Once racing action got under way following an 80-minute red flag, Hamilton overtook five drivers – Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz, Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly – in as many laps in the race’s wettest conditions before being first to put for slick tyres at the end of lap 11 as the track dried.
That early gamble paid handsome dividends as, once other drivers ahead of him pitted for slicks themselves on subsequent laps, Hamilton had gained another six places and ran seventh behind Williams’ Alex Albon.
Lewis Hamilton says he called on his go-karting days to make his way through the field for his seventh-placed finish after starting in 18th at the Belgian GP.
And although that is where he stayed over the remaining 33 laps with no way past the Williams, Hamilton’s early charge helped win him the fans’ driver of the day award.
He told Sky Sports F1: “I always love races like that when you’re challenged and having to make your way through the field.
“That’s how my life started in racing. We had not such a great go-kart and started at the back, so it was reminiscent of that.
“Great work by the team. Disappointed to have had not such a great weekend, definitely one to forget. But at least I’ve still got some points, we outscored Mercedes collectively.”
Hamilton’s struggles up to Sunday came on a weekend Ferrari had brought a long-awaited rear suspension upgrade to their car – and in which Charles Leclerc finished fourth in the Sprint and then third ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the Grand Prix.
Hamilton, who is still awaiting the first Grand Prix podium of his Ferrari career after 13 starts, said: “I can’t always get it right. There are lots of factors that contributed to Friday, Saturday was, again, some factors, but ultimately me.
“Then, I recovered a bit today. A big thank you to the team, I will try and come back stronger next week.
“I think I know the car a lot better now with all the changes we made, so I felt a lot more comfortable today.”
Watch the race highlights from the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps.
‘Super job!’ – Rosberg’s verdict on Hamilton’s recovery
Sky Sports F1’s Nico Rosberg, Hamilton’s former team-mate and title rival at Mercedes:
“He made up six positions from 13th to seventh, that’s awesome – by calling it himself. Super job!
“Ferrari will be pleased Mercedes struggled because if they keep up their form, that helps a lot in the Constructors’ Championship a lot.
“I guess they will be generally quite positive. Nevertheless, they are still 20 seconds off McLaren which is a big chunk.”
Leclerc ‘very happy’ with unexpected podium return
While Hamilton’s race was always going to be about damage limitation, Leclerc capped a strong weekend in Ferrari’s other upgraded car to beat Verstappen to the final podium berth behind the dominant McLarens.
“It’s nice. I don’t think we expected it, especially after the Sprint Qualifying when I saw the gap with the top three,” said Leclerc.
“I was like, ‘okay, it’s going to be probably the best we can do this weekend’. Yesterday, we did a really good lap.
“We did take a little bit of a gamble with the lower downforce compared to people around us, and then the rain today was tricky. The first part of the race was very difficult and Max definitely was faster than me. I had to keep him behind there, which we did.
“Once we went on the slicks, things came a bit more towards me. I just knew I had to do the job and P3 could be ours, which at the end it is, and I’m very happy.”
Charles Leclerc says he was ‘super happy’ with his podium at the Belgian GP but Ferrari need to keep working for the race win.
Leclerc has now finished on the podium four times in the last six races, big points hauls which have considerably helped Ferrari to open a 28-point lead over Mercedes for second place in the Constructors’ Championship.
“I’m pleased with the steps forward we are doing, and I think we should all be proud about that because I know that behind that, there’s a lot of work behind the scenes from the people back at home for us to have this upgrade here,” he added.
“It definitely helped us to get the podium when you see how close it was with Max today. However, we are all aware that this is not enough, and we need to keep pushing in order to be closer to the McLaren. This is very clear for the whole team. It doesn’t change that we shall be satisfied with what we’ve done this weekend.”
F1 immediately heads to the Hungarian Grand Prix for the final race before the sport’s summer break, watch live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
