Ferrari faces unexpected pace deficit to Mercedes at Belgian GP
Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari faces a significant speed gap to Mercedes in practice, threatening the Italian marque's bid to close the championship gap against its German rival.
Ferrari faces an unexpected pace deficit to Mercedes during Friday practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton ending the second session seven tenths of a second off the pace set by Kimi Antonelli. The gap represents a significant hurdle for the Italian automaker in a sport that serves as a global marketing and engineering flagship for European car manufacturers.
Antonelli currently leads the drivers' championship by 25 points over his Mercedes team-mate George Russell. Hamilton, who is seeking a record eighth F1 title, sits in third place, just seven points further back. A failure to close this gap at Spa-Francorchamps could severely dent Ferrari's momentum in the standings against its German rival.
Hamilton, who has claimed four podiums in his last five races and outpaced his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in both Friday sessions, acknowledged the scale of the challenge. "The gap seems a bit bigger today, at least in P2, than anticipated but hopefully we can try to close that tomorrow," Hamilton said. He identified the middle sector of the track as the specific area where Ferrari is losing time to its competitors.
The competitive landscape proved difficult to read across the board. While Antonelli's speed was expected, the fact that McLaren's Lando Norris was his nearest challenger in the second session was not. Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who topped the first practice session, was also ahead of Hamilton.
Red Bull arrived without its "macarena" rear wing following two recent crashes for Verstappen, yet the Dutchman reported that the "balance was there straight away". Meanwhile, Norris will face a 10-grid place penalty for Sunday's race due to a new control electronics that exceeds the season's limit.
Norris expressed doubt about McLaren's true position, suggesting the team is "probably fourth fastest" despite the Friday timesheet. Hamilton remained cautiously optimistic, stating that while "the others look really strong," his Ferrari "feels pretty decent" as the team searches for answers before Saturday's qualifying. Teams will have one final practice session on Saturday morning to refine their setups before the grid is decided in the afternoon.
