Following the 2026 F1 Belgian GP, Scuderia Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur analysed Lewis Hamilton’s penalty and the performance of the team as Charles Leclerc finished 2nd.
Starting P4 and P5 following Lando Norris’ grid penalty, the team had a mixed first lap. The Monegasque flew up to 2nd by the end of the Kemmel straight, while his British teammate had contact with George Russell and sent the #63 into a spin that ended the Mercedes driver’s race at Les combes. Lewis Hamilton got a 5-second penalty for it.
From there, Leclerc was fortunate to escape damage after a large touch with Piastri on the aforementioned straight on lap 8; he had been overtaken by Max Verstappen on the restart. No penalty was given for the collision with the McLaren driver.
Once Hamilton cleared the Australian, he got very close on lap 13 but could not make a pass on his teammate.
Running in P1 and P2 following the stops of Antonelli and Verstappen, the VSC was a handy gift for cars #16 and #44. Leclerc inherited the net lead, while Hamilton was P5 as he had to serve the penalty.
Kimi Antonelli chased down the 2026 British GP winner to take the win and deny Leclerc a second straight victory, while Lewis Hamilton passed Oscar Piastri for a second time to see the chequered flag in P4.
Scuderia Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur says Lewis Hamilton’s 2026 F1 Belgian GP penalty was harsh
Speaking in his print media session, the Frenchman felt Russell could have given more room to Hamilton who was in the dirty air of Verstappen when he had a small slide, leading to the contact.
“Yes, because so far this season all of the incidents of lap 1 were considered as racing incidents. And on this one, Russell had far enough space to not close on the right and to go on the left.
“At the end of the day, it’s not me who is taking the decision. But it seems a bit harsh.”
Hard tyre struggles for Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at 2026 F1 Belgian GP?
Speaking in Parc Fermé after the race, Charles Leclerc revealed he had some struggles with the front tyres on the hard and lost the good feeling for a few laps: “There were five or six laps on the hard where I was struggling with the front axle, and then it came back a little bit“.
From lap 30 through to 34, the Monegasque could not get below the 1:50s in lap time. While he had some help from overtake mode once Antonelli passed on the 34th tour, Leclerc recovered speed and got back into the 1:49s for eight of the ten laps.
Lewis Hamilton went through a similar phase in lap times from laps 24 to 28 as he was lacking the bite he liked from the front end because the front wing angle was not changed at the stop.
Asked about the struggles both had, Vasseur mentioned tyre management and overheating, as well battery usage as to the reasons for some up-and-down times.
“No, I think it was true for everybody on the grid, it’s not that we were slow on the hard, it’s that it was a bit more difficult than normal.
“But it was true with Lewis. Lewis had 4 or 5 laps where he was struggling and then he was pushing.
“You also have to pay attention that sometimes you are draining a little bit the battery.
“But at the end, it’s a little bit tyre management and if you push for two or three laps because you want to be a bit closer to get the attack mode, you are overheating, then you have to cool down.”
Does Fred Vasseur think Ferrari are closer in race trim versus qualifying?
On Saturday, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton qualified P5 and P6 for the 2026 F1 Belgian GP before penalties. Although a yellow flag getting waved on pit entry cost the Monegasque against Russell, he would have still be 0.4s off polesitter Kimi Antonelli.
In the race itself, both drivers showed very encouraging pace at various points. Having held a 3s lead with 19 laps left, Leclerc lost out to Antonelli by 1.9s when the flag fell. That meant he lost 5s pretty much across that period. It showed Ferrari looked stronger in race trim once more.
Asked about whether Mercedes deployment was a key factor in displaying more performance in qualifying at the 2026 F1 Belgian GP, Vasseur highlighted Q3 when Charles Leclerc was within a tenth of Lando Norris and the championship leader after the first run.
Intriguingly, he also discussed the chassis side when talking about the fight with Mercedes and why they seem closer on a Sunday.
“No, the picture that you have at the end of the quali is the picture of the last lap.
“If you have a look on Q2, we were P2, P3 [Hamilton was P4], I think. With the first set, we were in the same tenth of second than the others, and if you have a look at McLaren who is fighting with Kimi in Q3, run one.
“Then you do a good lap, you have a yellow flag that’s coming from nowhere or not. Tons of parameters that of course can change the relative performance.
“It’s a trend from the beginning of the season that we are probably a bit more performant in the race than in qualifying, but it’s not only due to the engine, it’s sometimes a parameter on the chassis that I will keep it for me.”
Vasseur on Ferrari showing up well in 2026 F1 British and Belgian GP events
Heading into Silverstone and Spa, it was expected that Mercedes would dominate and take two 1-2s. Both tracks are favourable for cars with great engines. It is an area the Brackley-based team holds a strong advantage in.
While Kimi Antonelli had the pace to win both of these races, the wheel shield issue at the British round ultimately saw him score no points as Charles Leclerc won the race.
What was hugely encouraging for Ferrari is that despite lacking the ultimate raw speed of Mercedes, they could keep them very honest, and they cashed in on the Italian’s misfortune.
In fact, Scuderia Ferrari have taken 26 points out of Mercedes’ F1 Constructors’ Championship lead over the last two rounds.
While Vasseur is happy with their performances, and Hungary is expected to suit Ferrari much more, he is aware of taking it one race a time and continuing to develop the SF-26.
“Yeah, we knew going to Silverstone, with Silverstone and Spa in a row, that it would be probably on the paper two difficult weekends.
“But overall it went pretty well. Even if clearly, Kimi was a step ahead in terms of pure performance.
“But it’s a good start with the execution, we can fight, and I think we did overall as a team, we did very well.
“Perhaps we’ll have tracks in the future something more with the package. But now it’s not a given, because everybody is developing. And until then we’ll have to do a good execution on the weekend, but each weekend we start from scratch.
“But yeah, we are pleased with the results of the last two weekends.”
Nothing can be done to improve Ferrari F1 qualifying speed at present, says Fred Vasseur
Asked if anything can be done to improve the qualifying speed, the Frenchman said it is not possible right now. Upgrades to both the engine and car will be hugely important to close the gap and start becoming more consistent challengers for wins, even if 2026 has been hugely encouraging for the Scuderia with two wins and nine podiums overall so far.
“No, I don’t think so. I think we are at the limit, quali and race.
“It’s probably more the characteristic of the engine helping a bit more Mercedes in quali or helping us in the race.
“But there is nothing that we can do. What we can do is to continue to develop, to bring performance, to be a bit closer and closer to Mercedes. Because also for them, they start to be a bit more under pressure, and it’s the best occasion for us to score good points and to catch up on that.
“If you have half a second gap, you don’t do mistakes and you don’t have issues.”
