Belgian GP: Lewis Hamilton hopes to close ‘bigger than expected’ Ferrari deficit to Mercedes at Spa-Francorchamps | F1 News
Lewis Hamilton says he hopes Ferrari will close in on their rivals as the Belgian Grand Prix weekend gets underway although he admitted the Italian team’s shortfall in Friday’s practice was “bigger than expected”.
Hamilton was close to the pace in first practice as he finished just over a tenth behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, but gained nearly seven places from Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli when the world championship leader took the lead in the second session.
Antonelli leads Mercedes team-mate George Russell by 25 points at the top of the standings, with Hamilton seven points back in third as he seeks a record eighth F1 title.
Hamilton, who is in good form with four podiums in his last five races, can at least take solace in finishing ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc on both occasions.
Hamilton said: “A great day in general, good, forward, clean times.
“We made a few changes in P2. The gap seems bigger today, at least in P2, than expected but hopefully we can try to close that tomorrow.
“But generally I feel fine.”
Although Antonelli’s pace did not come as a surprise, the fact that the Italian’s closest rival in second practice was McLaren’s Lando Norris was unexpected, while Verstappen was also ahead of Hamilton.
The Brit highlighted the middle sector as the part of the track where Ferrari needed to focus on gaining more speed.
“The others look really strong,” added Hamilton. “Red Bull looked really strong. Mercedes held a lot of speed in the (second) half. McLaren also looked good.
“So, I don’t really know. Like I said, the car feels decent but we’re a little lacking in the mid-range for some reason.
“So, we look at why that is and see if we can take that tomorrow.”
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Despite being fastest in FP2, Kimi Antonelli still says Mercedes have work to do before qualifying.
Verstappen is ‘not sure’ how much speed the car has
Verstappen came flying out of the blocks on Friday as he topped the first practice but had to settle for third in the second practice and it was almost the second half off the pace.
Red Bull are no longer running their ‘macarena’ rear wing after Verstappen’s two accidents in Austria and Silverstone but it appears to have had little effect on their pace.
Verstappen says “the balance was there straight away” and suggested Red Bull are close to increasing their package at Spa-Francorchamps.
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Max Verstappen brings out the red flag during the second practice session at the Belgian GP after a rough ride
“We focus on ourselves. To be honest, I will not be disappointed. It was a good day for us,” he said.
“I’m not sure how much is there compared to the others but I feel wise it was good. The second practice you see what the real gap is, but hopefully we can get out of there a little bit towards qualifying.”
Norris: We can get very close to Silverstone
Norris was Antonelli’s closest rival by 0.190s from there but has a 10 grid place penalty for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix due to the new electronic control exceeding the season’s permitted limit.
Similar to Verstappen, Norris was satisfied with his fifth but warned McLaren that he was too strong in the second practice session recently, but dropped back to qualify.
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Lando Norris reacts to news that he will take a 10-place grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix for exceeding power unit limits
“We haven’t changed anything this weekend, so there’s no reason not to expect something different,” said the world champion.
“Red Bull usually don’t come on Friday so we will come tomorrow and they will be just as fast, if not faster, so let’s wait and see.
“Maybe we got it from Mercedes and everyone else didn’t come so we’re probably fourth fastest. But if we can get things right, we could be even closer than at Silverstone.”
Sky Sports F1 Belgium GP schedule
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Take a look back at some of the most amazing moments throughout the years at the Belgian Grand Prix
Saturday July 18
9am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Belgian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.15pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Belgian GP qualifying build-up*
3pm: BELGIAN GP QUALIFYING*
Sunday July 19
7.30am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
10.45am: Porsche Supercup
12.30pm: Build-up to the Belgian GP: Sunday’s Grand Prix
2pm: BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
4pm: Belgian GP Reaction: Checked Flag
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1’s summer run continues with the Belgian Grand Prix at the prestigious Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
