Scuderia Ferrari HP opted for split strategies for the two drivers. Charles Leclerc started from P5 on Medium tyres, while Lewis Hamilton, beginning from P16, was sent out on Softs to gain positions quickly in the opening laps.
Leclerc made an excellent getaway, moving up to fourth place immediately. Hamilton progressed rapidly as well, reaching P13 by lap 3. Leclerc first battled with Fernando Alonso and then focused on closing the gap to Lando Norris, attempting several approaches to get within striking distance.
Hamilton made his first pit stop on lap 8, switching to Hard tyres. Leclerc stopped on lap 16 to cover off a potential undercut from George Russell. As Hamilton’s lap times began to drop around lap 31, he came in for his second stop and fitted Mediums, enabling him to overtake several cars. Leclerc completed his second stop eight laps later, also changing to Mediums.
By the end of the race, Leclerc secured a strong fourth place, showing competitive pace throughout, while Hamilton delivered an impressive recovery drive, climbing from 16th to finish eighth.
Despite difficulties early in the weekend, Ferrari’s overall race performance was encouraging. Friday’s challenging sessions required significant overnight changes to both cars, which helped improve competitiveness on Saturday but left less time for fine-tuning. This limited preparation affected the team in qualifying, where the field was extremely close.
In the race, Leclerc’s pace was strong enough to match the front-runners at times, but in today’s Formula 1 environment, even small imperfections can influence the final outcome. Hamilton also showed very solid race pace, executing several clean overtakes and demonstrating strong momentum after a tough qualifying.
Looking ahead, the team is focused on building more complete weekends by being competitive from the very first practice session. Appreciation was extended to all team members both trackside and in Maranello for their continuous effort throughout the season, as well as to the Tifosi for their unwavering support, even during the more difficult race weekends.