Leclerc vs. Hamilton | Verstappen-McLaren & F1 driver silly season | 2026 Belgian GP Preview

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
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**Soumil Arora** (0:30)
Formula One is back after the British Grand Prix. And where do we go to next? A circuit that's in jeopardy of being a permanent fixture on the Formula One calendar. In fact, it's going to be rotated, which pains my heart to say. But we are back at Spa-Francochamps for probably the last time as a permanent Formula One circuit. What a place this is. Welcome along to the Belgian Grand Prix preview, folks, on the Inside Line F1 Podcast. Soumil Arora here, joined as always by Kunal Shah. We both commentate on the Hindi Formula One broadcast for Fan Code. And Kunal also does the Viya Play Nordic F1 broadcast in Norway as well. Now then, the big rivalry for this weekend. We may all think we're going to talk about the Mercedes drivers and George and Kimi and the battle between them. That's inherent, that we're anyway assuming is going to be something that's going to happen. But the bigger picture and focus, Kunal, are the Ferrari drivers. We have a fight on our hands.

**Kunal Shah** (1:26)
We have a fight on our hands. And before you guys jump on to us, let's make this clear. Which team actually has an inter-team rivalry at the moment? Red Bull, well, not really a rivalry. When Max has gotten comfortable, he's just been a couple of tenths ahead. Not to take anything away from Hajjar, but that's not a rivalry. Then we look at Mercedes. George Russell himself has said, this is not how my world championship title battle should be. He knows he's on the back foot, not because of talent, but because he's not comfortable in the car. And then comes the McLaren drivers. McLaren doesn't have pace, depending on how the car is suited. Either one of the drivers typically ends up doing well. Most of us believe Lando Norris is handling this time of the season better than Oscar Piastri, which means the only team on the grid, top four team on the grid, sorry, which has a driver battle on hands is Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton pulled away for four races after Canada. Charles Leclerc struck back. And there are so many variables at play Soumil. That's what we should be talking about, right?

**Soumil Arora** (2:33)
We should. And it's all ebbing and flowing beautifully. At one point, especially around Austria, we were like, God, is it going to go that much worse for Charles Leclerc?

**SPEAKER_4** (2:44)
Is there going to be no way back?

**Soumil Arora** (2:46)
And yes, you could say that he probably won the British GP partly down to luck. But let's not forget, he outclassed Lewis Hamilton on Saturday and Sunday. And he got that win at Lewis' home circuit. So clearly we're back on. And Leclerc has changed setups. He's gone towards Lewis Hamilton's direction. He's changed his brake pads and gone to his Lewis' direction. And we were all just waiting. When would that moment come when Leclerc can prove that he can take it to Lewis Hamilton with these changes that the Ferrari cars have been undergoing and he can? Now the bigger question is, does that mean that they fight for a win? We'll find out. Belgium is a very different circuit. But I like the fact that the Ferrari team now has two drivers pulling in their own directions. And we'll now find out which direction is the right way, Leclerc's or Lewis's.

**Kunal Shah** (3:32)
And we're actually seeing that both are the right directions, right? Because we saw Lewis Hamilton go in a particular direction, suddenly pulling away, Lewis Hamilton or the Vintage. Charles Leclerc regrouped, found his own way within the entire complexity of these cars and also has won a race. So now Ferrari is the only team that has both drivers winning a race apiece. Lewis, of course, is 40 points ahead in the Drivers' Championship. But the story here is exactly what you pointed out. Each driver is charting their own way in Ferrari, trying to make them quick. And I have two points to this. First is hats off or helmets off to Lewis Hamilton because he came in last year. He's made all those subtle changes. He's forced Ferrari's hand with the carbon industry brake discs. He's forced Ferrari to, yes, there's a simulator suggested setup, but he's going another direction by itself. So he's, I would say, made Ferrari quicker and Ferrari is, you know, this is a very important point of the episode and of Lewis Hamilton's career, that he's gone into a new team. He's made changes and he's made a quick car go quicker. That's the benefit of having Lewis Hamilton. Of course, the other two variables are has he taken a family member or Kim Kardashian to a race because that's always worked. And then the other factor is whether he's been in the simulator or not before the race. So, fun setup, fun factors, but also very, very interesting technical factors at play Soumil. And if I can continue, okay, Charles Leclerc has actually found his way. He's gone and gone quicker than Lewis Hamilton. Does that speak volumes of Leclerc's talent as well? That he's realized that I've been going in a direction. Well, no, wait, Lewis can do better. He's gone in that direction while following his instincts. And then, yes, just one data point yet, which is the British Grand Prix, but Leclerc after that Saturday was quicker.