Ferrari, searching for answers, faced the first day of practice in Hungary with a third place from Carlos Sainz, which brought some smiles in the short run. However, according to the drivers, there is still work to be done over long distances, where the main differences with reference teams McLaren and Red Bull emerge.
Looking at the times, Carlos Sainz is four-tenths behind Lando Norris’s best time. Notably, Ferrari showed a surprise on the first straight, where it was 8 km/h faster than McLaren without drafting. The Spaniard mentioned this in interviews, highlighting how others improve in qualifying, while Ferrari lags behind, increasing the gap.
The strengths of Ferrari were most evident in the straight sections on Friday, but issues appeared in the medium and high-speed sections of the second sector. From turn 2 to turn 11, Ferrari couldn’t consistently gain on the MCL38, struggling particularly in the medium-high speed sequence after the slow chicane.
In general, both drivers tried to stay positive about the first day, especially compared to recent Fridays where Ferrari struggled with bouncing and finding a good balance. While cautious, both drivers felt better about the car compared to the trio of recent races.
Carlos Sainz remained cautious, suggesting Ferrari still needs to work on understanding the package and race pace, where they lag behind McLaren and Red Bull. McLaren, with Norris, appeared very competitive on the hard tires, while Red Bull showed consistency, with Perez setting a good time at the end of the long run alongside Verstappen.
“It was definitely a better day compared to the last three weekends. We still need to understand if the updates improved performance as we hoped or if the track characteristics helped us. We seem a bit more competitive,” explained Sainz.
“Looking in detail at the long runs, we are still not the fastest, and Red Bull and McLaren are still ahead, but we seem closer in the short run. However, others seem to improve more in Q3 compared to us. So, I prefer to stay cautious and not draw too many conclusions from today.”
“It was a tough day for everyone with the heat and car management. So, I think everyone will adjust the setup for tomorrow. I’m curious to see what happens in the race, as it’s very hot and the tires degrade quickly. It will be tough for everyone,” added the Spaniard.
Charles Leclerc had a more complicated day, unable to run as he wanted in FP2 due to an accident exiting turn 4. Trying to push, he lost the car, went wide on the curb, and with a low car, he hit the curb with the floor, losing control and crashing into the barriers. Despite the damage not being severe, it was enough to force him to park his SF-24 and end the session early.
“When I lost the car, I thought the damage would be worse, but it wasn’t, though it was enough to stop the session. I went a bit wide on the curb, had a snap in turn four, went wide on the curb, and lost the car. It was my mistake,” explained the Monegasque. He added that, at least, the car felt better than in the trio of races from Spain to Great Britain.
“In general, the car felt good, the feeling was better. Overall, it was an easier day compared to the last three or four weekends, which is positive. Unfortunately, because of the mistake, I had less running time, but we hope to recover tomorrow.”
“Still, I wouldn’t get carried away, though the feeling is good so far. I think we are still far from McLaren, which seems very strong. At least the feeling is good, and that’s always a good sign. Now we need to put everything together tomorrow,” added Leclerc.
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