We have now reached the halfway point of the season, yet Ferrari arrived in Hungary with the same old problems. The nightmare of plank wear still hangs over the drivers, to the point that Charles Leclerc’s race in Budapest was heavily compromised because the engineers had to increase tyre pressures, which slowed down the pace of his car. In the meantime, new components such as the floor and the rear suspension have been introduced, but the final outcome has not changed.
At the end of the race in Budapest, Frederic Vasseur looked out of place in front of the cameras, trying not to reveal the real source of the issue. However, Gian Carlo Minardi did not appreciate his statements, which reminded him of the same refrain heard for years. He admitted that it was almost laughable to hear the team principal still saying that they need to evaluate things, pointing out that after 13 Grands Prix, such words should no longer be acceptable. Minardi questioned what the purpose was of having 30 people inside the garage and just as many in the remote garage if, with today’s structures and technologies, they are still unable to immediately understand what has happened. He explained that of course the data from every single race must be analysed, but it was impossible to claim that Ferrari still needed time to assess the situation. According to him, with 1200 employees, Ferrari should be able to build a united group capable of delivering results.
Naturally, by the end of the race the team already knew exactly what had happened, but they could not admit it to the media out of fear that rivals would discover their weaknesses. In the end, it was George Russell who aired the dirty laundry in public
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