As we head into the F3 Belgium GP weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, Noel Leon spoke to media outlets, including Pit Debrief. The Mexican driver spoke about his past outings to Spa-Franchorchamps, focusing on the positive weekend in 2024.
He followed on to talk about the challenges of the circuit, as well as how he finds consistency in his performance, as well as the positive increase in the performance of the Prema Racing machinery.
A positive visit to Spa-Francorchamps in 2024
Formula 3’s visit to Belgium last year was incredibly positive for Leon. The Mexican qualified in P5, then going on to convert that start to a P3 in the Sprint Race, and a P4 in the Feature Race. Leon argues that Spa-Francorchamps has always been kind to him, and this further emphasises that point.
In 2024, his Belgian success was riding on the tail of a positive weekend in Hungary, and like then, this year’s Belgium GP is riding the high of success in Silverstone. Despite Belgium’s tradition of rain, Leon remains confident that this weekend will be a strong one for Prema Racing.
“Last year was really good for me in Spa. To be honest Spa has been always good for me but especially last year with the PT before in both races so it was a super strong result.
“We were coming from a great momentum to be honest. We were coming from a podium from Budapest, so now we are coming from a podium from Silverstone, so I’m really looking forward for Spa.
“Obviously the weather is always quite tricky here but it looks like for our race it’s gonna be it’s gonna be okay so looking forward and hope to be on the podium again.”
Challenges brought by the circuit
Spa-Francorchamps is known for its challenges, and lack of forgiving nature. In the eyes of Leon, the trickiest and most important aspects are track limits and the weather. Despite this, he can recognise that each driver is in the same position.
In order to maximise your weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, you need a mix of luck, as well as the ability to put together a clean lap. Past weekends have shown the troubles that a red flag can bring, and consistent weather across the weekend will help to lower the number of red flags flown.
“For me, the most important topic is the track limits, and then with the weather you just need to be, I mean it’s the same for everybody, so you just need to maximise what we have and be lucky that you don’t have a red flag in front of you so you can finish a lap without a problem.
“Which this year should be, it’s not been a problem to be honest. But last year, it was two times that we have an issue to close a lap because of red flag. So yeah, looking forward and I hope that weather is at least consistently during the weekend.”
When competing at a track with history of wet weather, how quickly the track dries needed to be considered. Reflecting on the difference between 2024 Silverstone to 2025 Silverstone, the difference in track condition is great. In 2024, the track dried much quicker than 2025. This affects tyre selection greatly.
Spa-Francorschamps has history of drying slowly. This is something Leon hopes happens again this weekend. This makes for an easier decision on what tyre to take. In Silverstone, Leon made the right tyre choice, and homely will do that again in Belgium.
“Yes I mean to be honest, this year has been super different in this aspect. Last year Silverstone dried super quickly in qualifying ands the races, so like after two laps the wet was already so much slower than the slick tyre.
“I think you cannot take in account that experience that we have in Silverstone because it was very different. This year the whole race the wet tyre was much faster and the track didn’t dry up that quickly.
“In Spa, it’s always been an issue that the track doesn’t dry up too quickly. So I hope that it is the same as last year to be honest, because last year it was also a tricky decision before the race because of the weather but at the end everybody took the slick tyre. Sector one was quite damp, but the rest of the track was really dry so I hope it continues like that. But of course in Silverstone I think so mainly us three we took that right decision.”
The key to consistency
Across the first portion of 2025, Noel Leon has had a rather consistent season. With multiple low point scoring finishes, Leon has proven he knows how to keep his Prema in the points. Silverstone brought his biggest points haul of the season, finishing P7 and P3 in the Sprint and Feature Races respectively.
Leon told the media exactly how he stays consistent, claiming it all starts on Fridays. A good result on a Friday makes point scoring results that much easier on Saturdays and Sundays. Pole position isn’t as crucial to the Mexican, stating that pushing too hard is where trouble arises.
“Yeah for me quite similar to Mari for me that the weekend, it starts on Qualifying. So you need to always get a good lap on the table even if it’s not for pole. If it’s for P5, you should just complete and maximise what you have. Then from there you can be all the time consistently up there.
“You fight for points and yeah it’s where you make the difference. You don’t need to always be on the limit for fighting for pole and sometimes you don’t finish a lap because of a track limit or you will cause a red flag or something like that.”
Prema’s performance is on the rise
With such a strong performance in Silverstone, as well as a positive one at the Red Bull Ring, it’s clear that Prema Racing is increasing their performance. Leon agrees with this, claiming small pieces of fine tuning are all that are left in terms of performance.
“Yeah Silverstone was our strongest weekend. I think the last two rounds it’s been quite a big step forward, Red Bull Ring, Silverstone.
“I think we are getting there in the right way. Obviously we need to fine-tune some stuff driving wise with the car to feel more comfortable to to drive. But I think the team has been doing an amazing job to put the right car and we’ve been approaching that.”
