Charles Leclerc will be delighted with what Lewis Hamilton just said about him at the Belgian Grand Prix

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Charles Leclerc is on an excellent run of form, having secured his fourth podium in six races at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Ferrari’s recent upgrades have helped propel them closer to McLaren, but not quite enough for them to compete for victories.

Out of the top four teams in the constructors’ championship, the Scuderia are the only team yet to win in 2025.

Leclerc has secured five podiums this season, while teammate Lewis Hamilton is yet to experience the thrill of the rostrum after a Grand Prix in red.

Nico Rosberg hinted at Hamilton ‘excuses’ after hearing what he had to say about some poor qualifying form at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Despite his stronger performances, Leclerc fears Ferrari have ‘a lot of work’ to do as they head into the summer break. They’re still nowhere near where they want to be.

READ MORE: Ferrari ‘likely’ making secret change to Lewis Hamilton’s car to avoid one ‘hazard’ from their Belgian Grand Prix update

Charles Leclerc will be delighted at Lewis Hamilton’s Belgian Grand Prix praise for Ferrari work

Before the weekend had even started at Spa, Leclerc wanted to take an ‘extreme’ Ferrari risk by no longer experimenting with their setups.

He expected that the long-awaited rear suspension upgrades would reduce the need for aggressive approaches to the car’s balance. On Sunday, it looked like it may have paid off.

And it was Hamilton who delivered the praise for his efforts, telling The Race that he was impressed with the ‘great job’ Leclerc had done extracting pace from their new package.

“Obviously, with the upgrade that we have, there’s basically two elements to it,” he said. “One of those elements, we had it to test back in Montreal, but I didn’t end up testing it. Charles did. He ended up using part of it for a couple of races.

“So he definitely did a great job today. He’s feeling more comfortable and acclimatised. For me, it was the first time using it and that spin we had caught me out because I didn’t expect it.

“Also, [there is the] change of engineer, we’re both in the deep end basically. And I think we did a really good job overnight to rectify some of those tweaks and fine-tune it.”

READ MORE: ‘Sources close’ to Ferrari say they’ve already taken a bold gamble with Lewis Hamilton’s 2026 F1 car

Lewis Hamilton makes Ferrari promise in unbroadcast Belgian Grand Prix message

Hamilton now sits a lonely sixth in the drivers’ standings, with daylight between fifth ahead and seventh behind him.

The Briton will be the first to admit that this season has not gone to plan for him, but he hopes that the 2026 F1 regulations will bring positive change.

It’s a fresh start and a chance for Ferrari to end what could be an 18-year title drought by then. The responsibility rests on the seven-time champion’s shoulders.

Despite his struggles, he took to his radio to deliver one promise to his team after the Belgian Grand Prix, where he finished seventh place.

“Yep. Sorry about this weekend, guys,” he said. “Losing you points, I’ll work harder to come back strong eventually. Great job on the strategy and pit stop.”