Vasseur: Ferrari are "still working on getting the most out of the new package"

On the back of a mixed day for Ferrari, the Scuderia's team boss Fred Vasseur was left to praise the Italian squad for having made inroads with the set-up of the heavily-upgraded car across the different sessions at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Having struggled to match the performance of the McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen all through the weekend, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc put in a brilliant effort to secure third place on the grid for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Having failed to set a good enough lap in the middle stages of Q1, Leclerc's team-mate Lewis Hamilton found himself in the danger zone in the final minutes of Q1. His final effort provisionally put him seventh, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

However, he had his best lap time deleted for track limits as the stewards ruled that all four wheels of his Ferrari went over the white line on the entry to Raidillion.

The incident saw Hamilton drop outside the top 15 drivers, and as a result, he will start tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix from a disappointing P16 on the grid.

Reflecting on the Scuderia's day at Spa, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur added: "Charles did a very good lap at the end. Currently we are still working on getting the most out of the new package we brought here and there was real improvement over the course of the weekend from the start all the way to the final lap in qualifying. We learned more about the car from session to session.

"Rain is expected tomorrow that will also allow us to see how these upgrades work in all conditions. We are still a couple of tenths behind McLaren but we are on the pace of Verstappen. We will continue to work on improving still further for Budapest.

Speaking of Hamilton's difficulties, Vasseur said: "As for Lewis, he was unable to put everything together but the field is so close, a matter of just hundredths or even thousandths of a second between the cars.

"His pace was good, he was just one place behind Charles but the track limits put him out and it is what it is," the Frenchman continued.

"It’s true that it’s been a tough weekend for him so far and, at this track, you need to build up confidence lap after lap and with the problems yesterday and today that was made difficult for him."