Lewis Hamilton warns Ferrari suspension upgrade unlikely to be optimised at Belgian GP

Lewis Hamilton has played down expectations around Ferrari’s rear suspension upgrade, warning that it’s “highly unlikely” the team will be able to fully optimise the new part during this weekend’s F1 Belgian Grand Prix.

Ferrari are set to introduce a highly-anticipated suspension upgrade for this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.

Hamilton and Charles Leclerc tested the new upgrade during a filming day at Mugello during the two-week gap after Silverstone.

Ferrari have been unable to run their car at optimum ride height throughout the season, particularly after their double disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Speaking in the FIA press conference on Thursday in Belgium, Hamilton was quick to downplay the Mugello test.

“We didn’t test,” Hamilton said. “It was a photoshoot day basically. I did 10 laps or whatever, 14 laps of filming. It wasn’t a test.”

Hamilton was then asked if the car felt any different with the new suspension, he replied: “The same as before. The same as the week before.”

Hamilton noted that the SF-25 didn’t feel any different on the simulator but hinted that at other circuits, the suspension tweak might reap some benefits.

“Firstly, we will get to test the suspension tomorrow,” Hamilton explained. 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.

“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.

“I think it was Austria. Pace-wise, it wasn’t necessarily to what I would have thought we would have if you look at some of the other teams they bring small pieces every single weekend, like Red Bull often do or Mercedes do for example. These are more big chunks along the way.

“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.”

Hamilton sends warning for Belgian GP

This weekend’s F1 Belgian GP is a sprint weekend, which means teams will have just 60 minutes of practice ahead of sprint qualifying.

A lack of practice means Ferrari have limited time to optimise their new upgrade.

Another complication could be wet weather, with showers threatening this weekend’s action.

“Very, very difficult. We don’t have a lot of time,” Hamilton conceded. “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.

“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.”