The Hungarian Grand Prix ended in the worst possible way for Ferrari, squandering what until now had been the only real chance for the Scuderia to secure a Grand Prix victory in this unfortunate 2025 season. Despite the extraordinary pole position achieved at the Hungaroring by Charles Leclerc, Ferrari finished the race with a disappointing fourth place for the Monégasque driver. Charles Leclerc had managed the first two stints of the race very well, showing a strong pace and keeping the two McLarens at bay. However, all of this faded in the race’s final stages when Charles Leclerc’s SF-25 had to bow to the strength of the McLaren due to a significant drop in performance. This performance collapse effectively nullified all efforts and relegated the Monégasque driver even behind George Russell’s Mercedes. This collapse was far too severe to be blamed simply on the reduced performance of the hard tires fitted late in the race or on a less than perfect strategy but, according to the official version, was caused by chassis problems.
Hamilton’s fading race
Just as Charles Leclerc’s race was highly disappointing, due to external factors that unfortunately removed the number 16 driver from the battle for victory, Lewis Hamilton’s race was equally negative. The Englishman was essentially the author of a completely lackluster weekend, starting with a poor qualifying session and then a dull race where he was unable to finish higher than twelfth place. This outcome nullified the alternative strategy Ferrari had planned for him, a strategy complicated further by the traffic he encountered. “Hamilton lost time at the start,” said team principal Frédéric Vasseur, “and remained stuck in the DRS train: the worst possible scenario, where you cannot overtake even if you have the pace. We tried to make a pit stop, but it was too late.”
Lewis disheartened
It was therefore a disappointing race both for the Scuderia and the seven-time world champion from England, who did not hide his disappointment at the end of the race for the poor weekend he delivered. This weekend effectively marks the end of what is probably the worst first half of a season he has experienced in nearly twenty years in Formula 1. In fact, the former Mercedes driver, immediately upon returning to the pit lane at the race’s conclusion, spent over a minute motionless and silent in the cockpit of his SF-25, perhaps to internalize the great disappointment. Then, he opened up on the radio to his race engineer, Riccardo Adami, apologizing to the entire team for the underwhelming weekend he had been part of.
Hamilton: “I’m really sorry for this weekend, guys, for losing you points.”
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