An F1 expert and former driver has explained why he is optimistic about Ferrari’s second half of the season in a “disastrous” year.

Ferrari entered the season hoping to challenge McLaren for the championship, but it has not worked out that way. McLaren are running away with both championships, while Ferrari have had the fifth fastest car at times. 

Lewis Hamilton locking up his Ferrari on trackPhoto by Clive Rose/Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton said the Ferrari is difficult to drive, after he made one of the biggest moves of F1 history to join the team this season. But according to this analyst, there is room for optimism from here. 

Jolyon Palmer says he has “high hopes” for Ferrari as they bring an upgraded car to the Belgian Grand Prix

Ferrari spent the three-week break between Silverstone and the Belgian Grand Prix testing a new suspension. The test went well, and Ferrari are confident of improvement at Spa. 

It’s the second upgrade in the last three races. Ferrari brought a new floor to Austria, which saw them become the second quickest car. That was after a string of poor races, most notably in Spain, where Hamilton struggled. 

Jolyon Palmer, speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast, said that he shares their confidence ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix. 

He said, “If they can run the ride height low, they can be competitive.

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“In terms of performance, this could be a big break for them. They brought their upgrade package to Austria, which worked really well in giving them downforce and giving them a platform in the high-speed of Silverstone, but also through the first sector.”

Their improvement is to the suspension of the car, which will allow them to run it closer to the ground without wearing the skid block too low. That’s what happened in China when Hamilton was disqualified from the Grand Prix.

Palmer continued, “The idea of this is to try to find the low-speed performance and get the ride height down. The lower you run it, the quicker you go. I have high hopes for them here.”

Ferrari can make a late-season charge up the standings, says Jolyon Palmer

Ferrari, despite a poor start to the season, remain in contention for best of the rest. They rose to second in the Constructors’ Standings after Hamilton’s fourth place in Silverstone, and he and Charles Leclerc are in touching distance of Max Verstappen in third in the Drivers’ Standings.

Palmer, on Ferrari’s season, said, “You can’t say anything other than it’s been disappointing for them. But I was looking through the standings, and I thought, ‘we’re halfway through, if they can find performance now, they can salvage a pretty decent year in this.

Position Constructors’ Standings PointsPts 1 460 2 222 3 210 4 Red Bull Racing 172

“They can still easily be second in the Constructors’ standings, and they can motor clear of Red Bull and Mercedes.

“But when you look at Charles and potentially even Lewis, with the way the Drivers’ Standings have been, and you’ve got George and Max missing loads of points recently, it’s not out of the question that with a car that can give them consistency. “

Those guys could come back into a third-place battle. When you look at it at the end of the year, they might be like, ‘Actually, for what on paper is a pretty disastrous year, to be the best of everyone apart from McLaren – we’ll take it.”