Ferrari Clears SF-25 F1 Car of Blame After Lewis Hamilton's Belgian GP Spin
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
The Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team has ruled out a technical problem on Lewis Hamilton's SF-25 F1 car, which was suspected as the likely cause of his spin during the Belgian Grand Prix sprint qualifying on Friday.
Hamilton was on his flying lap in SQ1, but on the penultimate corner, his car's rear locked up momentarily, causing him to spin out. The incident ruined his lap time, leading him to start the sprint race in P18.
A technical fault was suspected for the unusual oversteer. Sky Sports F1's Anthony Davidson noted clunking in Hamilton's downshifts. He said after qualifying:
"I hear a lot of locking in the rear axle on the car. That clunking is backlash in the gearbox. I don't blame the driver for that moment. Something is going on there in the downshift phase of that Ferrari. I give Lewis the benefit of the doubt for that one."
Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Scuderia Ferrari SF-25 on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 25, 2025 in Spa, Belgium.
Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Scuderia Ferrari SF-25 on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 25, 2025 in Spa, Belgium.Sky F1's Martin Brundle also noted the unusual nature of the incident. He said:
"It looks like a technical issue. Nobody will be more surprised than Lewis. It's almost like the engine sort of stalled out, and every time he pulled another shift it's just locked the rear axle."
Sky F1's Naomi Schiff spoke to Ferrari team members ahead of the sprint race and revealed their verdict after Hamilton's SF-25 was thoroughly analyzed. She said:
"Speaking to some members of the team, they'd looked at the data, analysed everything they could, and they haven't been able to come up with any technical issues, so they've ruled that out. We speculated yesterday that maybe there was a bit of locking on the rear because of the gearbox, the down shifts, but they've ruled that out.
"But you've got to say that it is very uncharacteristic, especially in those dry conditions to have rear locking. I mean, it is possible that Lewis didn't adjust the brake bias, but yeah, unfortunate for him that he wasn't able to put those laps together."
Schiff also referenced Hamilton's admission that he had never experienced his rear stepping out under braking. The seven-time world champion revealed his frustration after the qualifying session. When asked by Craig Slater what happened, he said:
"I spun."
Asked if the rear locked, he said:
"[Yeah] First time, I think, in my career."
When asked for an assessment of his SF-25, Hamilton said:
"Not great, not great. Yeah, there's not really a lot to say."
Quizzed about the sprint race on Saturday, which follows qualifying for the main race, the Briton said:
"Tomorrow's a new day, so we'll try to...Obviously, I'm massively frustrated, so... A lot of work's gone in, and to be there is not really great. So, yeah, hopefully tomorrow will be better."
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