logo
Lewis Hamilton eyes key Ferrari F1 breakthrough after testing in Mugello

Lewis Hamilton eyes key Ferrari F1 breakthrough after testing in Mugello

Independent17-07-2025
Lewis Hamilton is testing a new rear suspension on this year's Ferrari F1 car in Mugello today.
Hamilton, as well as teammate Charles Leclerc, will drive the SF-25 car around the Italian circuit on Thursday, in addition to a session on Wednesday, as both drivers eye a breakthrough in car performance at the halfway stage of the 2025 season.
Both will take to the cockpit on Thursday, with a total of 200km of running allowed as per F1's rules as part of a 'filming day'.
Ferrari hope that the new suspension, alongside a new floor upgrade at round 11 in Austria, will extract more performance from a car which is yet to win a race this year.
The Scuderia believe the new suspension will help the car be less sensitive to various ride heights, opening up more set-up options for qualifying and the race.
The added benefit of this week's testing session comes ahead of next week's Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, which is also a sprint event, meaning there will be just one practice session.
Hamilton is yet to finish on the podium in a grand prix, with three best-place finishes of fourth, including at his home race last time out in Silverstone.
Leclerc, meanwhile, has finished on the podium four times but is yet to taste victory. Neither driver has recorded a pole position, either. The three teams to have won race so far this season are McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes.
Hamilton, in his first season at Ferrari since his move from Mercedes, is currently sixth in the drivers' standings, a whopping 131 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri.
Leclerc is one spot, and 16 points, ahead of Hamilton in fifth.
Both Hamilton (five times) and Leclerc (once) have won at Spa-Francorchamps, the longest track on the 24-race calendar.
Hamilton won last year's race after George Russell, who won the race on-track, was disqualified post-race.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Lando Norris edges out McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to claim pole in Belgium
Lando Norris edges out McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to claim pole in Belgium

Leader Live

time7 minutes ago

  • Leader Live

Lando Norris edges out McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to claim pole in Belgium

Norris finished third, a place behind McLaren team-mate Piastri in the earlier sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps, but the British driver bounced back to secure his second pole in three races. Charles Leclerc took third for Ferrari but team-mate Lewis Hamilton's weekend took another nightmare twist after he qualified only 16th. LANDO NORRIS TAKES POLE AT SPA!!! 🤩 Oscar Piastri finishes just behind his team mate while Charles Leclerc is third quickest 👏#F1 #BelgianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) July 26, 2025 Max Verstappen – who won the first Formula One race staged following Christian Horner's dismissal as Red Bull team principal in Saturday's 15-lap dash – was fourth, one position clear of Williams' Alex Albon, with George Russell sixth for Mercedes. Piastri extended his championship advantage over Norris from eight points to nine and appeared to hold the upper hand over his team-mate heading into qualifying. However, Norris delivered with his first lap of Q3 to hold a near two-tenth advantage over Piastri heading into the concluding runs and – although he failed to improve, and Piastri did – it was enough to take first place as he looks to build on his wins in Austria and Silverstone. Norris qualified six tenths behind Piastri in Friday's qualifying and he said: 'Everyone was quite worried after yesterday. But I was always confident, so it is nice to get back on top. 'The car has been flying all weekend and Oscar and I have been pushing each other a lot. You can see each other's strengths and weaknesses (on the shared team data) so that makes it a tough battle.' Rain is forecast for Sunday's 44-lap race, and Norris continued: 'I prefer it to stay dry. But I don't mind if it is wet, or dry, or somewhere in the middle. I just hope it is an exciting race.' Hamilton, who started 18th and finished 15th in the earlier sprint race earlier, was eliminated in Q1 for Sunday's main event after his best lap was chalked off by the stewards. The Briton thought he had done enough to haul his Ferrari into the next phase of qualifying when he posted the seventh best time. But moments later, his lap was deleted after he was adjudged to have run all four wheels of his Ferrari off the circuit at Raidillon. That dropped him way down the order. 'Is everything OK?' Hamilton asked on the radio. 'Track limits,' replied Hamilton's race engineer, Ricardo Adami. 'Am I out?' Hamilton replied. 'Lap time is deleted, P16,' came the response. There was no response from the 40-year-old who is left to reflect on another sobering result of his difficult start to life at Ferrari. Hamilton, who spun in qualifying for the sprint, enters Sunday's race without a podium for Ferrari – the deepest he has gone into a season in his career without a top-three finish. Hamilton's replacement at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli, also failed to emerge from Q1 and will start 18th, with both Aston Martins on the final row of the grid following a dismal qualifying session for the British team. Fernando Alonso will line up from 19th, with team-mate Lance Stroll 20th and last. Ollie Bearman finished an impressive seventh in the sprint, but then qualified 12th as he complained the start of his final lap was compromised by Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda.

Lewis Hamilton laments ‘unacceptable' mistake as Lando Norris takes pole at Belgian GP
Lewis Hamilton laments ‘unacceptable' mistake as Lando Norris takes pole at Belgian GP

The Independent

time7 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Lewis Hamilton laments ‘unacceptable' mistake as Lando Norris takes pole at Belgian GP

Lewis Hamilton lamented an 'unacceptable' error in qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday as Lando Norris turned the tables on teammate Oscar Piastri to take pole position. Norris, who trails Piastri by nine points in the world championship, was a step behind the Australian in sprint qualifying on Friday but turned his fortunes around, setting a time which edged out his teammate by 0.085 seconds. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc came home a surprise third in qualifying ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who won the sprint race earlier on Saturday. But as for Leclerc's teammate Hamilton, a day on from qualifying third-last for the sprint race, it was another disastrous session for the Ferrari driver. The seven-time world champion arrived here at Spa upbeat, with a new rear suspension upgrade on the under-par SF-25 car, as he looked to claim his first podium of the season. But after a spin at the final chicane put him P18 and rendered his sprint race irrelevant – though the spin was put down to a mechanical error – Hamilton himself this time made a costly error at the top of the famous Eau Rouge corner. The Briton looked to have saved himself with a time quick enough for the top-15, before communication came from the FIA stewards that Hamilton had exceeded track limits at the top of Eau Rouge corner, marginally placing all four wheels outside the white lines. As a result, his lap was deleted and, staggeringly, the 40-year-old was knocked out in Q1 again. He will start Sunday's grand prix in 16th place. 'Not great, from my side I made a mistake,' a despondent Hamilton said in the media pen afterwards. 'We have to look internally. I have to apologise to my team, it's unacceptable to be out in both Q1s, a very poor performance from myself. 'I don't think there's much we can do. Everyone is trying to do the best we can, we've had upgrades, but I think that's it for the rest of the year.' Just after the halfway mark of the season, and trailing championship leader Piastri by a mammoth 138 points, Hamilton then effectively wrote off the rest of the campaign as the majority of teams shift their focus to new engine and chassis regulations next year. TOP-10 - BELGIAN GP QUALIFYING 'I think the focus back at the factory is to focus on next year's car,' he said. 'This season has been a tricky one.' A wet race on Sunday – with rain probability currently standing at 60% - is Hamilton's only saving grace. The seven-time world champion finished fourth in the wet-dry drama of Silverstone three weeks ago and won an entertaining race last year at Spa. However, despite all the clamour and hype surrounding his move to Ferrari, it seems the Scuderia's final set of upgrades this season have not provided the silver bullet many hoped would propel Hamilton back into contention at the top. Instead, it continues to be the team Hamilton made his F1 debut for, McLaren, who set the pace out in front. Norris, who is half Belgian, is on a run of two consecutive victories and impressively kept his cool in the heat of battle on Saturday afternoon. While Norris, second time around, did not go faster than his first lap in Q3, Piastri could not claw back the deficit enough and, to the delight of Norris's Belgian mother Cisca in the garage, could only manage second place. The Australian would later reveal an error into turn 14, in his view, cost him pole. 'It was a decent lap,' Norris said, before a pointed statement to the doubters. 'Everyone was pretty worried after yesterday, but I was confident going into today. 'It was nothing to worry about, people like to make a lot of things up. The car is flying a lot.' Piastri, however, will be looking to follow Verstappen's blueprint from earlier on Saturday to steal a march on his teammate at the start tomorrow. The short run down to turn one at Spa favours second place – on the inside line – and the lengthy run up the hill to the Kemmel Straight also provides another opening for cars behind with a healthy slipstream. That being said, wet conditions would likely shake up the status quo. Hamilton will need some favours from above if he is to salvage anything from what, he admitted himself, has been a 'weekend to forget' thus far.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store