Ferrari shows progress at Spa: Charles Leclerc starts third, new suspension works well – but gap to McLaren remains
Charles Leclerc surprised everyone on Saturday at Spa-Francorchamps with a strong third place in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. While teammate Lewis Hamilton was once again eliminated in Q1, Leclerc got the new suspension on the Ferrari SF-25 to work – at least better than expected.
“I’m very happy, even if it’s only third place,” said Leclerc immediately after the session. “We didn’t expect to be this close. We’re still three tenths behind, but that’s less than we feared.” According to Leclerc, Ferrari had expected fourth place or worse before the weekend, with a bigger gap to the front.
Fine-tuning brings progress
Leclerc attributes the leap in performance primarily to good coordination between Friday and Saturday: “We made small changes, nothing major. But it was about bringing everything together. And we succeeded in doing that.”
The new rear suspension that Ferrari debuted in Belgium was also a decisive factor. The upgrade proved to be effective in free practice. However, Leclerc emphasized several times that the new features can only be exploited bit by bit: “The upgrades are bringing something, but we’re talking about very subtle differences over an entire lap. It takes time to fully understand them.”
Team boss Frédéric Vasseur confirmed this. The suspension worked as expected, but has not yet been fully optimized: “We’ve taken a step forward, but we’re still missing a few tenths. We now have to perfect every little detail—because we’re talking about hundredths and thousandths.”
Beware of rain—and Verstappen
Ferrari is not only concerned about the competition, but also the weather: rain is possible for Sunday’s race. The team is relying on a low-downforce setup at Spa, which offers big advantages on the straights in dry conditions but could be a disadvantage in the corners in wet conditions. Vasseur takes a sporting view: “It’s good to learn in all conditions. It was important to bring the upgrade now, even if we suffer a little at the beginning.“
Leclerc is more cautious: ”I had a good feeling in the dry today. But I don’t know if we can keep Max [Verstappen] behind us.” The Red Bull driver will start fourth, directly behind the Monegasque, but unlike Ferrari, he has more downforce and could be unbeatable for Ferrari, especially in wet conditions.
McLaren remains the benchmark
Although Ferrari has made progress with the update, McLaren remains the clear benchmark for now. Both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were ahead of Leclerc in qualifying. Particularly bitter for Ferrari: McLaren also brought new parts to Spa – and also took a step forward.
“We are probably three or four tenths behind McLaren on average in qualifying,” said Leclerc. “The upgrade will help us get closer. But it’s not enough to challenge them consistently right now.”
Leclerc also considers it positive that he had the car under control from the first practice session. In the first half of the season, he often needed extreme setup changes to find the right balance. “Now I’ve been pretty consistent right from the start. That obviously helps to get the most out of the car, especially in qualifying.”
At the same time, he puts things into perspective: “The grip here at Spa is generally very high. That helps everyone. We’ll have to wait and see if the progress is also evident on other tracks.”
