Friday and Saturday were as difficult as it gets for Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Will Lewis Hamilton win a Grand Prix this season with Ferrari?
With one of his most successful races on tap it is a perfect time to ask: Will Lewis Hamilton win a Grand Prix this season?
Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images
Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.
After being eliminated in SQ1 on Friday and then in Q1 on Saturday, due to a pair of “unacceptable” mistakes, Hamilton was left at a loss for words and apologized to his new team at Ferrari. “Then from my side, another mistake, so I’ve really got to look internally. I’ve got to apologize to my team, because that’s just unacceptable to be out in both Q1s. It’s a very, very poor performance from myself,” the seven-time Drivers’ Champion told Sky Sports F1 after qualifying on Saturday.
Sunday, however, was a different story.
Starting from pit lane after Ferrari made additional changes to his SF-25 — and lining up 18th on the grid — Hamilton charged through the back half of the field and finished seventh, despite tricky conditions that saw the race delayed for over an hour. Ferrari fitted a higher-downforce rear wing to his SF-25 in anticipation of the forecasted rain, which led to the pit lane start.
While Hamilton was frustrated that he could only complete 11 laps in wet conditions, perhaps minimizing the impact of the bigger rear wing, there were promising signs in his performance.
“I definitely feel confident going forward and learned more about the car today. I’ll set that up better for next week [in Hungary],” said Hamilton. “I don’t see why we can’t have better results moving forward.”
Hamilton has yet to secure a podium in a Grand Prix this season but has been knocking on the door in recent weeks, finishing fourth in both the Austrian Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix.
Now he heads to the Hungaroring, a track he has dominated over his career. Hamilton has won the Hungarian Grand Prix eight times — more than F1 driver — and been on pole position nine times at the Hungaroring.
This might be one of his best chances yet to score his first Ferrari Grand Prix win.
But whether it comes this weekend or at some point this season, will Lewis Hamilton win a Grand Prix this year with Ferrari?
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