Ferrari Hadapi Kendala Kecepatan Menjelang Balapan Utama GP Belgia

Dua pembalap Scuderia Ferrari, Charles Leclerc dan Lewis Hamilton, tetap menargetkan posisi podium dalam balapan Formula 1 Grand Prix Belgia di Sirkuit Spa-Francorchamps pada Minggu, 19 Juli 2026, meskipun terhambat insiden bendera kuning pada sesi kualifikasi Q3 sehari sebelumnya.

Leclerc akan memulai balapan dari posisi keempat setelah Lando Norris mendapat penalti mundur 10 posisi, sementara Hamilton mengamankan posisi start kelima setelah mekanik tim berhasil memperbaiki mobilnya yang ringsek akibat kecelakaan pada latihan bebas ketiga.

Hasil kualifikasi tersebut diwarnai kebingungan akibat bendera kuning yang dikibarkan di area pit lane setelah pembalap Red Bull, Isack Hadjar, berhenti mendadak demi mematuhi regulasi Parc Ferme usai memberikan keunggulan aerodinamis (slipstream) kepada Max Verstappen.

"It is the way it is, I lifted off and I probably lost a bit of lap time there," kata Charles Leclerc, Pembalap Ferrari, dilansir dari f1i.com.

Leclerc menyadari adanya kelemahan pada unit daya Ferrari yang membuat mereka kehilangan waktu di lintasan lurus, namun dirinya tetap bertekad memaksimalkan peluang strategi balapan.

"It's going to be tricky. I think our power unit, we know what we have a slight disadvantage on a track like this and we'll have to try and maximise everything and hopefully a podium is possible," tutur Charles Leclerc, Pembalap Ferrari.

Sebelum sesi kualifikasi dimulai, Leclerc sempat mengeluhkan hilangnya catatan waktu signifikan di lintasan lurus sebelum akhirnya tim mendeteksi dan mengganti komponen unit daya yang bermasalah.

"The weekend has been very tough for other reasons than previously. But we've had unfortunately something, that we can explain now, but that was difficult to understand where I was losing half a second, four tenths in the straights all the time. But then hopefully for Qualifying, we kind of saw something, changed it, and was much more in line with what we expected. But the feeling wasn't too bad from FP1," jelas Charles Leclerc, Pembalap Ferrari kepada media termasuk GPblog.

Terkait bendera kuning di akhir kualifikasi, pembalap asal Monako ini merasa kesalahpahaman tersebut telah merugikan posisi startnya yang seharusnya bisa lebih baik.

"I mean, a bit of a shame for that last lap and for that misunderstanding on the yellow flag in the last corner, but yeah, it's the way it is," keluh Charles Leclerc, Pembalap Ferrari.

Leclerc menambahkan bahwa bendera kuning yang sebenarnya ditujukan untuk area masuk pit tersebut terlihat terlalu jelas dari lintasan sehingga mengganggu fokusnya.

"I'm a bit disappointed for that last lap because there was a yellow flag that was supposed to be for the pit entry but that was too visible in my opinion for being on track. It was very much in the middle. That probably cost me one position, I wouldn't have done a crazy better lap time and half a second was still there but one position would have been possible," ungkap Charles Leclerc, Pembalap Ferrari saat diwawancarai Sky F1.

Kendati demikian, Leclerc berharap karakteristik Sirkuit Spa-Francorchamps yang mendukung aksi saling salip dapat menguntungkan Ferrari saat balapan berlangsung.

"It's just raw power. Raw power they are just on the better side of things. We are pretty strong in the grip limited but struggling in the power limited.

However, today it was true they were very strong in the corners as well. They just have a very strong package at the moment and for us, at the moment, we just have to focus on those tracks to maximise what we have," urai Charles Leclerc, Pembalap Ferrari mengenai peta persaingan dengan Mercedes.

Di sisi lain garasi, Lewis Hamilton mengapresiasi kerja keras para kru mekanik Ferrari yang mampu menyelesaikan perbaikan mobil SF-26 tepat waktu sebelum kualifikasi dimulai.

"Massively grateful to the team. The guys were stretched to make sure they got the car ready," puji Lewis Hamilton, Pembalap Ferrari.

Meskipun mobilnya dapat dikendarai kembali, pembalap asal Inggris tersebut mengakui adanya perubahan keseimbangan kendaraan setelah insiden benturan keras di tikungan 13.

"The car was feeling the best it felt all weekend in FP3, then unfortunately I had to go and damage it. It wasn’t the same car when I got back out; unfortunately not identical in terms of balance. But I got the best I could out of what I had," aku Lewis Hamilton, Pembalap Ferrari.

Walaupun menghadapi tantangan teknis, Hamilton tetap optimistis menyongsong balapan utama demi mengamankan tempat di podium.

"Still optimistic for tomorrow. I think there’s a chance, there’s all sorts of chances tomorrow to try and see if we can get on the podium. That’d be awesome," pungkas Lewis Hamilton, Pembalap Ferrari.

Sementara itu, kendala teknis serupa juga dialami pembalap Mercedes George Russell yang kehilangan kecepatan di lintasan lurus dan harus puas start dari posisi ketiga.

"Could be worse, could be much better," respons George Russell, Pembalap Mercedes kepada Road & Track.

Russell menjelaskan bahwa timnya telah mencoba mendeteksi masalah tersebut sejak balapan di Silverstone, namun penyebab pasti penurunan performa di lintasan lurus masih belum terpecahkan.

"Yesterday I was losing eight-tenths in the straights. Today I'm losing four-tenths. It's a step in the right direction!

We saw this from Silverstone. We thought we found the problem. We thought it was something with the brakes.

It wasn't the brakes. Then we thought it was my driving style, with the throttle, and I convinced myself that it was something in me with the driving style. Now we're very confident it's not the driving style, and that there's a serious issue atplay here, and the team is working so hard to resolve it.

Every lap I do when I see I'm down, anywhere from two-tenths to six-tenths in the straights, it's pretty infuriating," beber George Russell, Pembalap Mercedes.

Di tim McLaren, Oscar Piastri yang akan memulai balapan dari posisi keenam turut mengeluhkan sulitnya mengendalikan mobil secara maksimal sepanjang akhir pekan di Belgia.

"The whole day just trying to get the car to work how I wanted to, and to put it on the edge has been tough. So not the easiest weekend so far. It's just been a very difficult car to drive.

If you can balance it on the edge, then the lap time seems to be there. But balancing it on the edge is pretty tough," keluh Oscar Piastri, Pembalap McLaren.

Piastri menilai kesulitan tersebut disebabkan oleh akumulasi berbagai faktor teknis, termasuk pengaruh arah angin di lintasan.

"Bit of everything, depending on where exactly you put it, and which way the wind is, what kind of corner you're in. It's not one kind of clear problem. I think when you've got struggleswith a bit of everything, it's probably that that's just what the car is capable of, andextracting any more out of it is just needing more downforce, really," tutup Oscar Piastri, Pembalap McLaren.