Ferrari could not fully unlock the SF-26’s potential during FP3 at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both failed to complete a clean final qualifying simulation. The car remained competitive, but hotter track conditions, stronger opposition and an unsettled balance—particularly through the second sector—left the Scuderia with work to do before qualifying at the Hungaroring.
Did Ferrari dominate on Friday? Yes. However, Saturday represented a new challenge and the competitive picture had the potential to change significantly. Ferrari’s rivals were never going to stand still, and their overnight analysis was expected to produce a step forward across the other leading teams. The Scuderia therefore needed to respond without making mistakes, finding the correct setup direction to extract the maximum from a car whose low-speed cornering strength could be particularly important at the Hungaroring.
Ferrari face hotter conditions and closer rivals in Hungarian GP FP3
Ten minutes after the start of the session, the two SF-26 cars left the pit lane. Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc used the red-marked Pirelli Soft tyres as Ferrari resumed the work conducted on Friday. The track engineers immediately highlighted an important change: the asphalt temperature was 10 degrees higher than during the previous day’s running. That meant tyre activation and management would be considerably different, adding another variable amid the weekend’s heat and changing weather conditions.
The first lap was exploratory, with neither Ferrari driver pushing particularly hard. Two cooldown laps followed, during which the usual handling recommendations were discussed over the radio. The conversations covered corner apexes, several braking zones and clarifications concerning the level of front-end load. Charles Leclerc did not want any changes, while Lewis Hamilton requested an adjustment: “plus 2 click”.
As the Ferrari drivers returned to the circuit, the red flag was immediately shown. The session was paused for approximately ten minutes while race control arranged for Sergio Perez’s stopped car to be removed from the track.
Ferrari then continued with its qualifying simulations to assess whether the fine-tuning work completed on the SF-26 had delivered the expected improvement. As anticipated, the competition was far more aggressive than on Friday, with Mercedes confident that the W17 could challenge Ferrari at the Hungaroring.
It also remained unclear whether the rise in temperature would help or hinder Ferrari. Charles Leclerc completed a lap that was far from perfect, while Lewis Hamilton initially had to back off because of a combination of small mistakes and disruptive traffic. The British driver then put together a much stronger performance and moved to the top of the timesheets after setting the fastest times in the first and third sectors. The oversteer had not completely disappeared, but it appeared less troublesome than it had been during FP2.
Ferrari return to race-pace work after setup changes
Charles Leclerc was not entirely satisfied with Ferrari’s tyre programme. Based on the radio exchanges, he had still been unable to optimise his warm-up procedure and reach the correct level of grip. Lewis Hamilton also expressed some frustration, although his comments concerned the changes that Carlo Santi was asking him to make to the car’s settings, ranging from the power unit maps and differential to the braking system.
Shortly afterwards, Charles Leclerc put together a more representative lap. Although his attempt was still some way from perfect, he moved to the top of the timesheets and finished almost four-tenths quicker than Lewis Hamilton.
The second run focused on high-fuel testing, effectively repeating part of Friday’s programme to understand how Ferrari’s setup adjustments had affected its race pace. The upgraded Macarena rear wing introduced on the SF-26 at the Hungaroring formed part of the aerodynamic package Ferrari was working to optimise over the weekend.
The high-fuel sequence lasted only four or five laps, but both Ferrari cars appeared well planted on the circuit. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc then returned to the garage. The collected data was valuable, although further work was still required on the push laps ahead of qualifying.
During the stop, Ferrari made minor front-wing adjustments and studied the telemetry to identify where performance could still be improved through changes to the drivers’ handling settings.
Ferrari fail to maximise final Hungarian GP FP3 qualifying runs
Ferrari fitted another set of Soft tyres for the third stint, this time using brand-new rubber. With ten minutes remaining, the team began its most significant qualifying test of the session. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both completed aggressive out-laps as they attempted to prepare the tyres properly for their flying laps.
The two SF-26 cars struggled through the second sector, although this was partly a consequence of how Ferrari had chosen to build the lap. Charles Leclerc did not produce his best performance and remained three and a half tenths away from the fastest time. Traffic also affected his attempt.
Lewis Hamilton improved by just over two tenths, but he was also unable to put together a fully representative lap. Both Ferrari drivers requested another front-end adjustment, believing that the car’s balance could still be improved.
Charles Leclerc tried again but ran very deep into Turn 1. He also flat-spotted his front-left tyre, almost certainly compromising the remainder of that set. Lewis Hamilton was then forced to lift in the second sector after losing the rear of the SF-26.
The session ended without Ferrari managing to optimise its one-lap performance. The opposition looked strong, underlining the close Ferrari-Mercedes battle expected at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc also appeared less comfortable with their cars than they had been on Friday.
Ferrari must now bring all the available information together and give the SF-26 a more balanced platform through the second sector. The underlying performance remains present, but the team will need a cleaner tyre preparation procedure, a more predictable balance and mistake-free laps to extract it in qualifying.
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