After a rough Friday and Saturday in Belgium, Lewis Hamilton, who started P16 on the grid, made up a few places in the early stages before pitting for slicks a lap earlier than most other drivers. By the time the first round of pit stops wrapped up, Hamilton found himself in the points.
Hamilton was the fastest man on track once the grid switched to slicks and it looked like he’d be able to get past Alex Albon in P6. However, he revealed the real reason why he could not get close enough to the Williams to make a move.
Lewis Hamilton believes he could’ve passed Albon if not for under-fueling
After the race, Hamilton spoke to Sky Sports F1 and revealed that Ferrari under-fueled him for the race based on the wing that they had. Both cars used a low-downforce wing in the race to be quicker on the straights, but they didn’t properly calculate how much fuel they’d consume over 44 laps.
“I think maybe right at the end I would’ve been able to attack him, but we under-fueled,” he told Sky Sports F1. “Basically, we under-fueled for the wing we had.”
Lap 37/44: @LewisHamilton still in DRS of ALB but it’s proving tricky to pass pic.twitter.com/yh6EnyZUwc
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 27, 2025
Considering the fact that the first four laps of the race were behind the safety car and they were racing under wet conditions for the first stage – both of which help save fuel – it’s a bit strange that Hamilton was still under-fueled and was asked to lift and coast in the latter stages of the race.
Due to his fuel-saving efforts, Hamilton was never able to mount a proper charge on Alex Albon, who held onto his P6 position and finished with valuable points for Williams.
Despite the mistake, Hamilton was pleased with Ferrari’s performance
Hamilton may not have been able to pass Albon for P6, but he still turned a pit lane start into a P7 finish. His efforts saw him win Driver of the Day and helped Ferrari outscore Mercedes this weekend, growing their lead in the constructors’ championship.
Give it up for your Driver of the Day! 😮💨 Making up 11 positions from the pit lane! pic.twitter.com/Q4YtJkrttT
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 27, 2025
“I always love races like that where you have a challenge and have to make your way though the field,” he told Sky Sports F1. “Disappointed to have had not such a great weekend. Definitely one to forget, but at least we still got some points. And we outscored Mercedes, collectively.”
With Leclerc’s P4 and P3 finishes in the sprint and feature race, respectively, along with Hamilton’s P7 in the Grand Prix, Ferrari brought home a total of 26 points over the weekend. Mercedes, their biggest rivals in the constructors, didn’t score a single point in the sprint and could only manage 10 points in the race – all scored by George Russell, who finished P5.
Overall, it wasn’t the weekend Lewis Hamilton envisioned having. He struggled for much of the weekend while his teammate brought home two solid results, but he had a very strong race and helped Ferrari extend their gap to Mercedes and Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.
