Ferrari only fourth in F1 Hungarian GP race pace despite high expectations. Ferrari’s race pace shortfall explained after Hungarian GP disappointment.

Ferrari ranked only fourth in the pit-equated Hungarian Grand Prix race pace comparison, finishing behind McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes on a circuit where the Scuderia had entered the weekend with major expectations. Lewis Hamilton provided Ferrari’s reference figure, but his adjusted pace remained 0.29 seconds behind that of Lando Norris.

The deficit helps explain why Ferrari’s promising weekend did not ultimately produce a podium. Although traffic affected parts of its race and Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were among the most closely matched team-mates in the field, the wider comparison suggests the SF-26 did not possess the clear race-pace advantage anticipated at the Hungaroring.

Ferrari Hungarian GP race pace ranked fourth

Lando Norris established the benchmark for McLaren, with the calculation also accounting for his additional tyre set. Max Verstappen was only 0.11 seconds behind for Red Bull, while Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli followed at 0.15 seconds from the leading figure.

Ferrari occupied fourth place through Lewis Hamilton, 0.29 seconds away from Lando Norris. That left the leading four teams covered by less than three tenths of a second, but the order is significant: The Maranello team was behind all three of its principal rivals rather than setting the pace at a venue expected to highlight the car’s high-downforce strengths.

The comparison does not mean Ferrari was slow throughout the entire Grand Prix. Race pace is affected by tyre age, traffic, strategy and the amount of time a driver spends in clean air. However, after Ferrari’s strong practice performance and expectations of fighting at the front, fourth place in the adjusted order represents a disappointing conversion of its potential.

Hamilton and Leclerc were separated by only 0.03 seconds

The unadjusted driver averages underline how closely Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc performed. The Briton recorded a mean smoothed lap time of 84.72 seconds, compared with 84.75 seconds for the Monegasque. That difference of only 0.03 seconds indicates that neither Ferrari driver held a meaningful overall pace advantage across the race.

Lando Norris led the individual averages at 84.43 seconds. Lewis Hamilton was 0.29 seconds behind, with Charles Leclerc another 0.03 seconds back. Max Verstappen followed on 84.82 seconds and Kimi Antonelli on 84.87 seconds.

Those figures place both Ferrari drivers inside the leading group, but they also show that Ferrari’s problem was not confined to one side of the garage. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc extracted broadly comparable pace, yet both remained behind Lando Norris on the overall average.

Charles Leclerc ultimately finished fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth after the British driver received a five-second penalty for exceeding the pit-lane speed limit by 0.1 km/h. The final positions were therefore shaped by more than raw speed alone, but the underlying averages still suggest Ferrari lacked the sustained advantage required to control the race.

Complete Hungarian GP pit-equated race pace ranking

Hungarian GP mean race pace by driver

Aston Martin gains ground, but leading group remains clear

Behind the top four, there was a substantial break to the rest of the field. Racing Bulls ranked fifth at 1.56 seconds from the benchmark, narrowly ahead of Audi by only one hundredth. Alpine followed in seventh, while Aston Martin occupied eighth after introducing its updates.

Aston Martin’s position placed it ahead of Haas and Williams in the pit-equated ranking. Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso also produced similar individual averages, although the team remained two seconds away from McLaren’s leading adjusted figure.

For Ferrari, the central conclusion is more uncomfortable. The Scuderia had two drivers operating at an almost identical level, yet its best adjusted pace still left it fourth. Traffic offers part of the context, but the numbers do not support the idea that Ferrari possessed an undisputed race-winning advantage at the Hungaroring.