Ferrari: Charles Leclerc capitalizes on SF-24, Carlos Sainz wastes it all at race start

Scuderia Ferrari did its best at the 4.381-kilometre Hungaroring circuit in Budapest, with Charles Leclerc’s excellent performance in Hungary securing a fourth place. Although this is not an exhilarating result given the Maranello team’s prestige, considering all the issues faced by both the Monegasque driver and the Italian side in recent weeks, it is a result to be welcomed positively. The Maranello team brought back the Barcelona aerodynamic update package with a revised version of the floor, which at least this weekend in Budapest seemed to bear fruit, helped also by the track layout and characteristics of the Hungarian racing circuit.

However, the SF-24 single-seater is still not able to compete with McLaren and Red Bull, even though in the final part of the race, Charles Leclerc held off Max Verstappen for several laps. The Dutchman was clearly much faster and had fresher tires at that moment, undoubtedly aided by the track’s layout, but it was a Sunday that gave Charles Leclerc solid impressions, a situation that was needed after the recent troubles.

It was not the best race of the season for Carlos Sainz. The Spanish driver, who finished sixth, started fourth but completely botched the start, likely due to a clutch problem. His race effectively ended immediately, as it took him too many laps to overtake Fernando Alonso, allowing the top five to escape and become unreachable.

The race in Budapest was beautiful nonetheless: Oscar Piastri won for the first time in his Formula 1 career, Lando Norris came second amid controversy, Lewis Hamilton achieved his 200th career podium, and there is hope that the best is yet to come. Meanwhile, a very nervous Max Verstappen spent most of the race cursing his team for what he saw as a wrong strategy, only to be admonished by his engineer, Gian Piero Lambiase, who told him to stop behaving childishly.

Returning to Ferrari, Charles Leclerc’s performance, as previously stated, was excellent because the Monegasque maintained a great pace with hard tires in the middle stint of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Unfortunately, the Maranello team did not have another set of hards available, so the final part on slightly used mediums did not allow him to battle with Lewis Hamilton, who eventually finished third after the contact with Max Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc noted that they had turned the situation around compared to the previous day, describing their race as solid with good tire management and a consistent pace, and suggesting there was even a chance to think about the podium. He acknowledged that a fourth place was not the desired result and recognized that much work remained, but he felt their form on Sunday afternoon was indeed better than expected. The Monegasque driver also mentioned the difficulty of overtaking on the track and the challenge of managing overheating when following Lewis Hamilton closely in the final stint, which complicated their efforts. Despite this, he believed they took advantage of all the opportunities and positively viewed the good haul of points for the Maranello team.

As for Carlos Sainz, the Spaniard has regrets about the very poor start that effectively put him out of contention for the rest of the race. Starting fourth, he found himself seventh, even behind the slow Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso. The battle with his fellow countryman, which lasted a few laps, did not allow him to stay in touch with the top five, who irreparably escaped.

The Spanish driver admitted that it was a difficult race for him, citing the poor start as crucial in Hungary, which compromised his first two stints because he had to overtake other cars to climb back to sixth place. From there, it was a rather solitary race on a disappointing afternoon for the driver who will leave Ferrari at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 championship.

For Ferrari, there is clearly still a lot of work to be done. Team principal Frederic Vasseur himself believes that progress has been made in terms of drivability, and now the focus must be on performance. The challenge at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit will be completely different. We will see if the SF-24 single-seater will feature the development aerodynamic package introduced in Budapest, which is the same as the one from Barcelona, or if they will revert back to the setup used at Silverstone.