Hamilton in the crosshairs: Daunting Leclerc claim makes the Briton tremble

15:59, 30 Jul

byNorberto Mujica

Lewis Hamilton's F1 Belgian Grand Prix race weekend was one to write off quickly as the Briton one again was overshadowed by teammate Charles Leclerc.

A Sprint weekend offers something which Formula One traditionally denies: second chances.

With two qualifying sessions in the weekend one for the Sprint race and another for the Grand Prix, drivers and teams can often turn a difficult weekend around.

In the long-awaited premiere of Ferrari's much anticipated revamped rear suspension, Leclerc was able to make the most of it with a solid P4-P3 result in both races.

Lewis Hamilton driving the SF-25 Ferrari at the Belgian Grand Prix

Leclerc gets a big 'chapeau bas' after P3

Speaking on Sport.de's analysis of the Qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps for the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, former F1 driver Christian Danner lauded Leclerc for his performance on Saturday afternoon which put him in P3 for the race the next day, particularly since he managed to pip Max Verstappen who was relegated to P4.

"Yes, that's a big compliment for Charles Claire. What he managed to do, because he fights just like Lewis Hamilton, who didn't even qualify for Q2, With the peculiarities and the problems of the Ferrari."

"But I think he did a pretty good job. He was quite satisfied. Of course, there is still one thing to say: The gap to the top is huge," Danner said.

'Hamilton in the shadow of Leclerc'

On the other side of the garage things went differently, though. Hamilton was unable to make the best of either qualifying session being knocked out in SQ1 after a bizarre spin at the bus stop chicane, and the next day again in Q1 after having his lap deleted due to a track limits violation at Radillion.

At the time, the Briton was shocked at the Stewards' decision, which Danner fails to understand.

"He could have understood it, because he simply cut Eau Rouge (Radillion, ed.)," was the German's cut and dry assessment.

"But well, mistakes are made and in such pressure situations, because Hamilton is clearly in the shadow of Leclerc, something like this just happens more often," Danner dauntingly concluded.

After the checkered flag dropped on Sunday afternoon, Hamilton managed to recover all the way up to a P7 finish, whilst Leclerc racked up yet another podium finish for the Scuderia in what is a rather complicated F1 season.