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Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton signals Ferrari boost despite qualifying blow

Lewis Hamilton qualified for the Belgian Grand Prix in sixth place, his lowest result since Miami.

Hamilton FP3 Belgium
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To news overview © XPBimages

Lewis Hamilton is hopeful he can enjoy a more positive race on Sunday in Belgium compared to his outing in qualifying.

Hamilton's day on Saturday took a significant dent when a crash in the closing stages of FP3 put his Ferrari team in a race against time to get the car ready for qualifying.

But having been a consistent threat towards the front in recent rounds, Ferrari was unable to challenge over one lap.

Charles Leclerc was fifth fastest as he narrowly out-paced Hamilton, who admitted his car was subtly different after the mechanics rebuilt it.

When asked if he hopes Ferrari's pace will be stronger over a race distance, Hamilton told media including RacingNews365: “I hope so. 

“In FP3 the car was feeling really good, and I did a bit of a long run, the car was feeling great. 

“It is a slightly different, subtly different car setup-wise, so I'm still hoping it's good.”

Throughout the weekend in Belgium, several drivers have noted how differently they have to drive the new cars to extract performance.

Asked to give his opinion of the cars around Spa, Hamilton stated: “It's just not good on the straights, but through the corners, the cars are great. 

“It's just in a straight line, it's not great.”

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