06/07/2025 14:00
Lewis Hamilton confirmed after qualifying fifth for the British
Grand Prix that he does not "want" the exact set-up being run by
Charles Leclerc. In recent grands prix, the seven-time world
champion has moved closer to his Ferrari team-mate's set-up, having
often found himself adrift of him. Despite having moved closer to
what Leclerc is running on his SF-25, it remains not identical,
with Hamilton insistent that he does not want his car set-up
exactly how Leclerc's is. So far, it has worked to his advantage
at Silverstone, having topped first practice, Q2 and qualified
ahead of Leclerc. Hamilton qualified exactly one-tenth adrift of
Oscar Piastri in second, highlighting the progress made by the
40-year-old. Had it not been for understeer in the final corners
on his last Q3 lap, the 105-time race winner would have secured a
front row start alongside Max Verstappen. With a mixed weather race
looking likely following torrential rainfall, Hamilton will fancy
his chances of a 10th British GP win. When asked if his set-up was
similar to Leclerc's, Hamilton told select media including
RacingNews365 : "We're not far apart. We're not far apart. "Our
setups are different, but more using that [same] method. So it's
more in that direction, but he is on a different setup. "He's got
something quite a bit different to me, which I don't want to go to,
but I was happy with my car. Yeah."