The qualifying session for the Belgian GP qualifying saw Charles Leclerc put in an impressive lap that will see him start from the 1st grid spot for the race. Despite this fact, Charles is not very confident in converting this positive qualifying result into a race win.
Ever since the 2024 Monaco GP, Leclerc has not been performing very well. He has not even been able to keep up with his teammate, Carlos Sainz. When the weekend of the Belgian GP started, Ferrari was not looking very strong. But with changing conditions for qualifying, Leclerc found himself on track at the right time and on the right tyres. This saw him qualify 2nd just behind Max Verstappen who is facing a 10-place grid penalty for taking on an additional power unit.
Charles Leclerc not confident with Ferrari’s race pace in Spa
After the qualifying session, here’s what Charles had to say about his performance in qualifying and his chances of winning the race:
“On my side, it was a clean lap, but not an incredible lap, So yeah, I’m very happy to be P2 but I definitely did not expect that. I think as a team today P5 will have been a bit of a good result and today we are P2 and tomorrow we will be starting on pole.”
Thanks to the changing weather conditions, Ferrari made the right call of pitting for fresh tyres before the final runs in Q3. Through all 3 of the practice sessions, Ferrari seemed to be slower than the Red Bulls and McLarens. Hence, Leclerc was not expecting a front-row start for the race.
“So that’s a good thing. But as I said we don’t have any magical solution for the race pace and it will be a bit of a tricky day.”
There is no doubt that weather played a role in helping Leclerc qualify 2nd. However, the weather prediction for the race is expected to be bone dry. So if the practice sessions are anything to go by, Leclerc could lose position to the McLarens, Sergio Perez, and maybe even the Mercedes.
Why did Ferrari lose pace after Monaco?
After a positive start to the season where they were the second-fastest team, Ferrari hoped to start competing for wins with their upgrades in Imola. While the upgrades did work in Monaco, the team disappeared from the lead battle ever since.
A couple of races after the Monaco Grand Prix, the team brought another set of upgrades to the Spanish GP. This upgrade was meant to increase the level of downforce generated, allowing the cars to take corners at higher speeds. While these upgrades did do what they were expected to do, they created another problem for the team.
Belgian Grand Prix Qualifying lap time comparison between:
🥇Max Verstappen
🥈Charles Leclerc
🥉Sergio Perez#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/4ac7dJTM0w
— FORMULA ADDICT (@Formuladdict) July 28, 2024
By increasing the downforce, the car started to porpoise again, as many cars did in 2022. This cost the team a ton of pace in the straights. The team even tried to go back to the Imola spec, but by then, McLaren, Red Bull, and even Mercedes had developed their cars and Ferrari was left behind to play catch-up.
The team will be hoping to bring some more upgrades after the summer break to find their pace once again. The only question is how long will it take?
Do you think Ferrari can win another race this season? Post your thoughts in the comments section below.
Rohit Kumar 
Sara Chavan