Ferrari left Budapest with only fourth and fifth place despite having what was theoretically the fastest Formula 1 car at the Hungarian Grand Prix. A remarkable sequence of errors prevented Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc from converting the SF-26’s pace into victory, while the lack of peak power needed to pass Max Verstappen created an unexpected paradox at a circuit where engine performance should have mattered less.
The Hungarian Grand Prix result suggested Ferrari were only the fourth-fastest team. That verdict, however, was deeply misleading. Lewis Hamilton’s fourth place and Charles Leclerc’s fifth did not reflect the SF-26’s genuine potential. Ferrari had enough performance to win, but the team’s many mistakes across the weekend proved far too costly.
Ferrari’s Hungarian GP result hides the SF-26’s real pace
That makes challenging Mercedes for the championship increasingly difficult. Just as in Monte Carlo, Ferrari failed to capitalise on the performance available and paid an excessive price for its inability to execute a clean weekend.
“The thing that strikes me most after the last three races,” Charles Leclerc explained, “is that there were two in which we expected to struggle and instead finished first and second, while in the one where we expected to do well, we ended up fourth and fifth.
“So there is clearly a trend, and it is not a case of one car performing well because the driver is doing something exceptional. Both cars seem to share this characteristic: being competitive on weekends when we expect to struggle and struggling on those when we think we will be strong. It is something we need to understand…”
Charles Leclerc’s question about Ferrari’s unpredictable form is legitimate, but it would be wrong to frame Hungary as a problem with the car itself. The SF-26 was unquestionably the fastest single-seater at the Hungaroring. Ferrari as a whole squandered an excellent opportunity to recover a significant number of points from Mercedes.
Fastest laps reveal Ferrari’s true Hungarian GP speed
Fastest laps are not usually particularly meaningful, but this time the data provide a useful way of interpreting the race. Charles Leclerc set a 1:22.000 on Soft tyres on lap 58, while Lewis Hamilton finished three tenths behind on the same compound one lap later.
Kimi Antonelli was third in this comparison with Mercedes. On the same lap as Charles Leclerc, the Italian was 0.451 seconds slower, although he was running on Hard tyres. Race winner Lando Norris ranked fourth: the McLaren driver was 0.491 seconds behind Ferrari on Softs when he completed lap 64. Max Verstappen was only eighth, ending the final lap 1.4 seconds adrift, an enormous difference.
Those figures offer a snapshot of what could have happened but did not, although Lando Norris fully deserved to return McLaren to victory after a relatively lean period. Ferrari instead produced a series of costly execution errors during a weekend that needed to be perfect. Execution has become Formula 1’s latest magic word, and in Hungary Ferrari fell short.
Penalties and qualifying mistakes deepen Ferrari’s problems
Lewis Hamilton, for a change, collected another two penalties. The seven-time world champion received a three-place grid drop on Saturday for blocking Oscar Piastri on the Australian’s final flying lap, followed by a five-second race penalty for exceeding the 80 km/h pit-lane speed limit by just 0.1 km/h.
Lewis Hamilton paid the price for the Ferrari pit wall’s mistake in qualifying, as the warning about Oscar Piastri’s arrival came too late. He consequently started fifth despite missing pole position by only 0.012 seconds. It was the smallest of margins, but the consequences were substantial. Ferrari’s two FIA rulings were detailed in the explanation of Lewis Hamilton’s penalty and Charles Leclerc’s yellow-flag investigation.
Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, lost his way during qualifying and had to use one additional set of new Soft tyres. As a result, the Monegasque driver was forced to start the race on a used set. The consequences became clear immediately: Charles Leclerc made a poor start from the dirty side of the circuit and dropped to fifth on the opening lap.
It remains unclear why Charles Leclerc hesitated for so long before leaving the lower-grip line when he could have attempted to move across in search of better traction.
Max Verstappen exposes Ferrari’s lack of peak power
Ferrari’s roadblock was Max Verstappen. The four-time world champion skilfully kept both Ferraris behind despite the SF-26s being clearly faster over a full lap but vulnerable in the overtaking zones. Max Verstappen defended with surgical precision, managing his available energy to ensure he reached the Turn 1 braking zone in a strong position.
The greater power of the Red Bull Ford M01 power unit prevented Lewis Hamilton from mounting a serious attack on the RB22. Ferrari’s straight-line vulnerability at the Hungaroring eventually prompted the pit wall to attempt an undercut by bringing Lewis Hamilton’s stop forward to lap 13.
Lewis Hamilton, however, had not accounted for Max Verstappen’s immediate response. The Dutchman produced an excellent move under braking for Turn 1, catching the British driver by surprise and passing before Lewis Hamilton had any opportunity to react. Ferrari had meanwhile fitted the white-marked Hard tyres, only to discover that the compound did not provide the expected performance.
“We should have built a strategy around Soft, Soft and then Hard,” Frédéric Vasseur admitted after the race.
It is curious that the influence of engine performance was not felt at Silverstone or Spa-Francorchamps but appeared to have a significant impact at the circuit where it should have mattered least. Ferrari did not have a lap-time problem, as the fastest laps demonstrated. The SF-26 simply lacked the essential extra punch required to complete a pass at the only realistic overtaking point. At Turn 4, Max Verstappen would never have allowed a Ferrari to remain alongside him.
Ferrari sacrifice crucial track position under the VSC
Ferrari’s final mistake was undoubtedly surrendering valuable track position, which is fundamental at the Hungaroring. Lewis Hamilton had moved into second place ahead of Max Verstappen following Oscar Piastri’s retirement, which triggered a Virtual Safety Car on lap 56 after the McLaren suffered a gearbox failure.
The intention behind Ferrari’s late switch to fresher Soft tyres was to create another opportunity to complete an overtake that had proved impossible earlier in the race. Instead, Lewis Hamilton could not attack the Red Bull and was also passed by Kimi Antonelli as he left the pits.
The five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane followed soon afterwards. By that point, the damage had already been done.
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