Hamilton reveals "Montreal upgrade" contributed to his spin in sprint qualifying at Spa

On the back of a strong comeback drive at Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton has revealed that a new component contributed to his costly spin in Friday's sprint qualifying.

Ferrari endured an up-and-down weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. While Charles Leclerc delivered an absolutely faultless performance all weekend long, his team-mate Lewis Hamilton struggled to put together his laps in both the sprint and standard qualifying session.

The Monegasque started from P3 on the grid, and managed to maintain this spot in the tricky, damp conditions, fending of the attacks of Max Verstappen whose Red Bull was arguably more competitive in the early stages of the 44-lap race.

Leclerc then pitted at the right time, and never lost his concentration, keeping Verstappen at bay despite enormous pressure from the reigning champion.

His team-mate Hamilton started from P18 following a tough qualifying session on Saturday. The Briton was excellent in the damp conditions, picking off five drivers in the opening stages of the race.

The seven-time world champion pitted at absolutely perfect time, gaining a lot thanks to his early stop. He then went on to close in on Alex Albon, but with his aerodynamic configuration he was unable to make any further progress.

Reflecting on his spin in the sprint qualifying that cost him a shot at a better starting position, Hamilton has revealed that a new component that was first tested by Charles Leclerc at Montreal contributed to the incident.

“Obviously with the upgrade that we have, there's basically two elements to it. One of those elements, we had it to test back in Montreal, but I didn't end up testing it. Charles did. He ended up using part of it for a couple of races.

"So he definitely did a great job today. He's feeling more comfortable and acclimatised. For me, it was the first time using it and that spin we had caught me out because I didn’t expect it.

Speaking of his brilliant comeback drive on Sunday, the Briton said: “The car was so much better to drive today. So I had a lot of fun trying to make my way through.”

“I think this one is definitely one to put behind me. I definitely feel confident going forward. I learned more about the car today, fine-tuned it. I'll set that up better for next week.

“I will be at the factory on Wednesday. So yeah, I don't see why we can't have better results moving forward," Hamilton concluded.