Vasseur: Hamilton pitlane start and strategy at Spa ‘the right call’

Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur acknowledged that the decision to radically alter Lewis Hamilton’s setup ahead of Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix – at the cost of a pitlane start – proved fruitful, as the seven-time world champion stormed through the field to claim a hard-earned seventh-place finish.

Heavy rain forecasted on the eve of the race at Spa-Francorchamps prompted a strategic gamble from Ferrari: switch Hamilton to a higher-downforce configuration to better prepare for wet conditions.

The move, though risky, allowed the Briton to capitalize on the wet-dry nature of the race and emerge with valuable points.

“Right Call at the Right Lap”

Vasseur elaborated the thinking behind the move and the timing of Hamilton’s early switch to slick tyres, which played a pivotal role in his recovery.

“It was the strategy that when you’re in this situation you have to gamble a little bit,” Vasseur said.

“The situation is that we were degrading the inter a lot and we were far away from the crossover [where slicks become faster] just because the inter was a disaster – they were completely gone. You put on a new set of inters, you are also six seconds faster.

“But I think it was the right call at the right moment – a bit aggressive, we were quite close to doing it with Charles, but Charles would then have been in traffic. It meant that we did it with Lewis and I think it was the right call at the right lap.”

“Don’t try to split the team and the drivers, it’s always a collective decision…”

Hamilton, who originally qualified 16th after his final Q1 lap was deleted for a track limits violation, was due to start deep in the midfield.

Opting for the pitlane start allowed Ferrari to recalibrate his car for better grip and stability in wet conditions. Once the race finally got underway after a lengthy delay, Hamilton made rapid progress – including an audacious overtake on Pierre Gasly at Stavelot.

A Bet on the Weather That Paid Off

Though the forecast had threatened a fully wet race, Vasseur explained that the weather picture remained uncertain right until the last moment, and ultimately, conditions began drying quickly once the green flag dropped.

“It wasn’t that obvious that today it would be 100% wet – and you saw the race and it wasn’t full wet,” the Frenchman explained.

“We had this forecast kind of saying that, ‘OK, you will have tons of showers all the day’. But we also knew yesterday the situation for the quali and we knew also that in case of rain, then you have also the spray, it’s difficult to overtake.

“I think that it was a choice, not an easy one, and it was a bit 50-50 on the grid. You know, it’s always kind of a bet because even this morning, I wasn’t expecting that we’d have the sun in the afternoon.”

• Read also: Hamilton credits key engineering change for solid Spa fightback

While Leclerc clung to a strong third-place finish using a lower-downforce setup better suited to the drying track, it was Hamilton’s race from the pitlane that vindicated Ferrari’s split-strategy approach.

For Vasseur and his team, the calculated risk proved the fastest way through Spa’s unpredictable twists.

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