Ferrari spotted making interesting change to Lewis Hamilton’s car during Belgian Grand Prix red flag

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Lewis Hamilton charged back into the points during the Belgian Grand Prix after making an early pit stop onto slick tyres.

Rain hit the track minutes before the start and the FIA had deemed the visibility too poor, having run one formation lap behind the Safety Car.

F1 fans were in uproar over the decision not to race in the wet, while both Hamilton and Max Verstappen felt the FIA was being too cautious and that the race could have got underway earlier.

Hamilton started from the back of the pack after having his fastest lap time deleted in Q1, and was looking to recover to the points.

Sensing an opportunity after the Safety Car, he wasted no time in switching to slick tyres and climbed up to seventh place. Although he made no progress for the remaining 33 laps, he was awarded the Driver of the Day award by fans.

During the red flag period, Ferrari were spotted making one interesting change to Hamilton’s car.

Ferrari changed grip on Lewis Hamilton’s steering wheel

Teams were not allowed to work on their cars in the fast lane, nor were they able to make setup changes because they were still under Parc Ferme conditions.

This is because the race hadn’t technically started yet, prompting some confusion over whether the three-hour time limit clock had started. The FIA would later clarify that it had not started as that rule only applied to a race being suspended.

Hamilton was allowed to make changes to his car because he already elected to start from the pit lane when Ferrari changed components in his power unit.

Ferrari did, however, change the grip on the paddle shifters of Hamilton’s steering wheel after he complained over team radio about it slipping.

“Lewis Hamilton reported a slipping shift paddle during the formation lap at yesterday’s Belgian GP, prompting the team to apply grip tape during the red flag break.”

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

Lewis Hamilton made crucial change to engineering team in Belgium GP

The Belgian GP weekend was arguably one of the toughest weekends for Hamilton at Ferrari so far, especially as they were meant to deliver upgrades to improve their car.

But after Hamilton suffered an unusual spin in Sprint qualifying, Nico Rosberg felt he was making excuses.

Hamilton told media that a host of factors had come together that made his weekend difficult, with one of those being the change to a performance engineer, according to The Race.

The seven-time world champion said it was someone whom he had previously worked with at Mercedes, as Ferrari have promoted from within, but remained tight-lipped on which individual.