Lewis Hamilton has lowered expectations regarding Ferrari’s new rear suspension upgrade, stating it is highly unlikely the team will be able to achieve full optimization of the component during this weekend’s Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Ferrari plans to debut the much-anticipated upgrade after several rounds of working around technical challenges all season.
The SF-25 car has struggled to run at optimal ride height since early in the year, especially following Ferrari’s double disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix, which disrupted their development progress. Both Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had the opportunity to test the new suspension during a filming day at Mugello in the two-week break after the Silverstone Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s assessment of the Mugello filming day and upgrade impact
During the FIA press conference held on Thursday in Belgium, Hamilton downplayed the significance of the Mugello session, emphasizing it was primarily a filming day rather than a functional test.
“It was a photoshoot day basically. I did 10 laps or whatever, 14 laps of filming. It wasn’t a test.”
—Lewis Hamilton, F1 driver
When asked about any changes in car performance with the new suspension, Hamilton responded plainly:
“The same as before. The same as the week before.”
—Lewis Hamilton, F1 driver
He noted that in his simulator sessions, the SF-25 showed no noticeable difference with the updated suspension. However, Hamilton suggested the new component might provide advantages at other circuits beyond Mugello or Spa.
“Firstly, we will get to test the suspension tomorrow, I am sure there’s going to be learnings from it. We will figure out how to fine-tune it and just try to extract performance from it. On the simulator, there’s no difference. I am sure across different circuits perhaps there will be benefits.”
—Lewis Hamilton, F1 driver
Hamilton expressed appreciation for Ferrari’s renewed development efforts after a period of slower upgrades. He highlighted that the team had introduced an upgraded floor in Bahrain, followed by a gap until Austria for the next notable update, contrasting with teams like Red Bull and Mercedes that bring smaller developments more frequently.
“I think for me the positive thing is arriving at the filming day where you see that new bits are coming. You see we are getting development. In general, we had an upgraded floor in Bahrain then it was quite some time before we got another upgrade.”
—Lewis Hamilton, F1 driver
“I think I was just really happy to see that there’s a big push back at the factory. There are a lot of changes and to see the results of those changes, it takes time. I was just really grateful to see that we have new parts. We will try to put them to use this weekend.”
—Lewis Hamilton, F1 driver
Challenges ahead for the Belgian GP upgrade implementation
The Belgian Grand Prix is scheduled as a sprint event, meaning teams only have 60 minutes of practice before the sprint qualifying session. This limited track time complicates Ferrari’s ability to fully extract performance from the new suspension and refine the setup effectively.
The potential for wet weather at Spa-Francorchamps introduces another hurdle, as rain during practice sessions would reduce the amount of useful data the teams can gather on the suspension’s behavior.
“Very, very difficult. We don’t have a lot of time, we need to double up. We need to make sure we get as much as information from both cars. We need to do the whole session.”
—Lewis Hamilton, F1 driver
“If it’s wet then that really halves your learning so in terms of fine-tuning the car it’s highly unlikely we’re going to fully optimise it during this weekend. It’s probably something we’re optimising over the next few weekends.”
—Lewis Hamilton, F1 driver
Looking ahead: The ongoing development race in Formula 1
Ferrari’s new suspension upgrade reflects the team’s continued push to close performance gaps during the intense development phase of the Formula 1 season. Teams like Red Bull and Mercedes maintain a steady flow of smaller updates each race weekend, while Ferrari appears to be focusing on larger, more significant changes spaced further apart.
With limited practice time and challenging weather conditions expected, the full potential of Ferrari’s suspension modification may take several races to realize. The Belgian GP is an important step in gathering data and fine-tuning the car, but it is likely only the beginning of a longer optimization process as the season progresses.