Scuderia Ferrari’s final race before the summer break was one to forget after the Italian team’s second straight defeat in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday. Budapest should have gone Ferrari’s way as they qualified second and third on the grid and their Oracle Red Bull Racing competitors started in positions ten and eleven; nevertheless, poor strategy cost them a potentially significant number of points.
Beginning comfortably on the Medium tyre, Charles Leclerc followed his teammate around as they pursued George Russell, who had won his first pole position on Saturday afternoon. The Monegasque was able to overtake Russell on the racetrack and pass Carlos Sainz Jr. in the first round of pit stops, but the call was incorrect.
a surging Verstappen would make an undercut attempt and pit before his second stop (which was the Medium tyre, having started on the Softs and switched to the Mediums in his first stop). Ferrari would maintain Sainz’s lead, but Leclerc would be pitted for a pair of Hard tyres since the Softs would not last to the finish line.
Due to the chilly track conditions, a few drivers had previously experienced difficulty getting the Hard tyres to temperature; Leclerc experienced a similar issue. Verstappen twice passed the driver in the race, but the sixteenth-place finisher made one last pit stop for a pair of Soft tyres in the closing laps.
“It’s a shame we didn’t bring home a better result, because the car felt good and we had a strong pace on Medium tyres today. Unfortunately, the Hards just did not work in these conditions,” said the Ferrari driver, who was the fastest car with the Medium tyre attached.
“We now need to see what we could have done better, recharge our batteries over the break and be ready to fight in the second part of the season.“
