The heated discussions following Ferrari’s defeat in Budapest show no sign of ending anytime soon and justifiably so. In a race with high expectations for the Maranello team ahead of the last race weekend before the summer break, Ferrari was targeting a one-two finish and instead left Hungary only with a fourth place for Carlos Sainz jr. and the sixth position for Charles Leclerc, a result that left the bitter taste of defeat for the fans.
The biggest issue that created discontent, especially among fans and outside observers, was the strategy adopted by Ferrari with the Monegasque driver, who was in the lead and was setting good lap times on mediums tyres that were working perfectly on his F1-75, until the Maranello team decided to call him in for a tyre change and mounted the hard compound. A choice that immediately seemed wrong, especially considering the difficulties suffered by both Haas with Kevin Magnussen and the Alpine cars of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso.
The American team tried this solution with the Dane, when he was forced to pit after only 6 laps and Haas decided to switch from medium to hard compound without obtaining significant times, while the French team opted for the transition from medium to hard, both with Fernando Alonso and with Esteban Ocon, at the end of lap 21 and the two drivers never showed a competitive pace, despite the fact that they finished the race with these tyres.
Ferrari, despite the indications provided indirectly by Haas and Alpine, decided to make a first stop with the Monegasque at the end of lap 21 to mount a set of medium tires again, and a second stop after just 18 laps to mount the much discussed hards that destroyed Charles Leclerc’s competitive pace from the first part of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The chances of victory vanished at that stafe and not even a further stop to switch to the soft compound, carried out after 15 laps, served to salvage anything.
At the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Mattia Binotto was the one who had to step up and try to explain what was once again a clear strategic mistake this season that affected Charles Leclerc’s race, but in the debriefing after the Hungaroring the race, in the presence of the media, the Ferarri boss wanted to defend the team and give a positive evaluation on the first half of the championship.
“The balance of this first part of the season for Ferrari can only be positive. In the 13 races so far we have failed to fight for the win only one time. In others we have not won for various reasons. At times they have been frustrating reasons, with disappointment, and we deserved much better results, but in 12 out of 13 races we were always there to fight for the victory” – the Ferrari boss said – “I think the balance can only be positive, even if Hungary’s disappointment remains and we will have to understand how to intervene to ensure that it does not happen again”.
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Charles Leclerc had arrived in Hungary 63 points behind Max Verstappen and at the end of the race his gap from the Dutchman increased to 80 points. The Scuderia, on the other hand, continues to be second in the Constructors standings, but the gap from Red Bull is now 97 points and behind there is an increasingly treacherous Mercedes, now just 30 points from Ferrari.
Despite these numbers, Mattia Binotto underlined the team’s willingness to try to fight until the end, even if first they need to take advantage of the summer break to clarify what went wrong in Budapest.
“The objectives remain unchanged. We want to be competitive in every race and try to win every race. We will return to racing after the summer break with only one desire: to try to win every race and take home as many victories as possible. The championships are mathematically still possible, and even the Constructors’ championship should not be forgotten. There is no reason why we cannot have our say in this fight. Before all this, however, we must analyze what happened in Hungary. If we understand this, we can be competitive again for sure. It was a misstep that must help us improve. We will have to work to make sure that doesn’t happen again.” – Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto concluded.
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