Ferrari ended the first half of the season with fourth and fifth place at the Hungaroring, leaving the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix without a podium despite the expectations created by two highly promising days of practice and qualifying. The final outcome fell well short of the potential shown earlier in the weekend, as reflected in the complete 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix classification.
The Ferrari SF-26 once again displayed a degree of inconsistency when the rear axle was pushed to its limit, and the Budapest circuit proved no exception despite the team’s initial confidence. Curiously, Ferrari’s factory expectations have repeatedly failed to match reality this season, with the trips to Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone ultimately proving far more successful than anticipated.
What changed for the Ferrari SF-26 after an excellent Friday?
It was a familiar scenario. Just as in Monaco, Ferrari began the weekend in the best possible way and appeared to be the team to beat on Friday. The problems emerged later, when the Scuderia’s rivals used their overnight work to close the performance gap.
From FP1 in Budapest, Ferrari opted for a fairly neutral setup designed primarily to protect the rear axle without sacrificing the responsiveness of the front end. The level of grip available to the Italian car allowed the team to lead comfortably on Friday, when the circuit was particularly dirty and its rivals were still struggling significantly to control rear-tyre overheating.
Ferrari maintained the same general setup direction on Saturday after a long night during which its engineers broke the curfew. Considerable attention was devoted to race preparation, both in terms of the car’s balance and energy management, while the team also completed a short long run on the C5 compound during FP3.
The weather was undoubtedly one of the variables that influenced the weekend. The very high temperatures experienced during the race complicated the engineers’ work on Friday, particularly with the C4, a compound that has already proved difficult to manage this season. Ferrari ultimately decided not to use it in the race, preferring the C3 and C5 compounds, as the other teams also did.
The circuit’s continuous evolution created difficulties for several drivers in qualifying as well. The two Ferraris were the first cars to leave the pits and found themselves running on a track that had cooled during the pause between the two Q3 attempts. As a result, neither driver completed a lap that reflected the car’s true potential.
McLaren positioned Lando Norris well by sending him out at the back of the queue alongside Oscar Piastri, allowing the British driver to benefit from better track conditions. It was therefore an exceptionally difficult weekend to interpret, particularly with the current generation of cars proving so complicated to drive at the limit. That leads to another major concern arising from the SF-26’s inconsistency.
Why the Ferrari SF-26 struggles at the limit on rear-limited circuits
As previously observed, the SF-26 finds its Achilles’ heel at rear-limited circuits. This weakness is produced by several factors, beginning with Ferrari’s pursuit of more aggressive energy deployment than its rivals at low speeds in an attempt to maximise traction out of slow corners. The car also has a rear axle that is structurally less effective than its front end.
In Hungary, both drivers made noticeable use of the throttle through the middle of corners to assist the car’s rotation. This approach maximised the corner-exit phase because it allowed the SF-26 to straighten earlier and return to full throttle more quickly.
This behaviour derives from a design intended to maximise the car’s aerodynamic load, particularly at the rear. The package features a system that includes the FTM wing and the so-called Macarena configuration with its cascade of aerodynamic profiles, to name two elements. Ferrari’s objective was to make the rear as stable as possible and limit the damage on a circuit made up predominantly of medium- and low-speed corners. However, the resulting high-downforce rear-wing compromise also carried disadvantages.
Charles Leclerc struggled with this balance choice, which did not prove sufficient in race conditions. The Monegasque generally prefers a more demanding rear end while concentrating a greater proportion of the car’s load towards the front. Lewis Hamilton is more affected by oversteer, which explains why, once the rear-overheating problems were controlled, these cars allowed the British driver to produce several satisfying race performances.
The race was nevertheless heavily influenced by Saturday’s mistakes and setbacks. These included Lewis Hamilton impeding Oscar Piastri during Q3, along with the problems and misfortune that forced Charles Leclerc to waste a new set of Mediums and a new set of Softs.
Both SF-26 cars then suffered from overheating on the C3. By its nature, the compound provides less grip, but it was the only realistic alternative to the C4, which Ferrari evidently considered an even worse option. The team’s compound selection and the consequences of its race plan formed part of the wider debate over the tyre strategy Ferrari chose in Hungary.
Potentially suboptimal tyre preparation must also be considered, given that the drivers needed to push hard in an attempt to move ahead of their rivals through the pit-stop sequence. Once the car is taken to the limit in terms of setup, it can easily fall outside its operating window. This has only been observed on rear-limited tracks, particularly when a harder compound—and therefore a tyre offering less grip—is used.
Charles Leclerc described the second stint on the Hard tyres as the worst of his entire race, in contrast to the other stints, which felt considerably better. Speaking after the Grand Prix, he explained: “It is proving very difficult to find consistency with this car. The really strange thing is that exactly the opposite of what we expected has happened in the last three races […] but that rather sums up the general behaviour of these cars.”
His assessment underlined the SF-26 inconsistency that puzzled Charles Leclerc throughout the Hungarian weekend.
It appears easier to take the car to its limit when the axle under the greatest stress can operate within a broad and predictable window. At Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone, despite Ferrari’s energy-management difficulties, the drivers confirmed that the team was capable of extracting performance close to the car’s maximum potential. Ferrari achieved something similar in Hungary, but with a much narrower and more difficult operating window to manage.
Why several race factors magnified Ferrari’s difficulties
McLaren succeeded in putting a very competitive car on track for Lando Norris, who was consistently stronger than Oscar Piastri. Once the Australian driver made his pit stop, the reigning world champion produced an exceptional pace increase and lowered his lap times by approximately one second.
The clean air available to Lando Norris was a decisive factor in the way the race developed. Overtake Mode had not appeared as effective at the Hungaroring as it had at other circuits, something that had already been evident from Thursday. Track position therefore became particularly valuable, while running behind another car amplified tyre temperatures and reduced the opportunities to exploit outright pace.
McLaren’s engineers also made progress in their understanding of the Mercedes power unit, highlighting the quality of the team’s gear-ratio selection for a circuit like the Hungaroring. The car’s short wheelbase provided excellent agility through sections such as Turns 6 and 7 and the medium- to high-speed middle sector. Ferrari, by contrast, could not fully exploit its own strengths because of the setup compromise it had selected.
Mercedes was the major absentee from the competitive picture on Saturday before returning to contention in the race with Kimi Antonelli. The team endured a complicated and untidy weekend, especially considering that the Italian driver missed the opening practice session.
Mercedes was unable to find an optimal setup solution for controlling tyre overheating, although Kimi Antonelli’s qualifying lap would have been good enough for third position. Meanwhile, George Russell continues to be affected by reliability problems that have already cost him a significant number of points this season.
Ferrari’s season could still change with the introduction of its updated power unit featuring the second ADUO token, particularly after the team suffered a horsepower deficit even at a circuit expected to suit the SF-26. The rear wing’s cascade of aerodynamic profiles may also have increased drag, although the overall situation offered little reason for optimism from the outset.
Ultimately, the difficulties of the SF-26 were compounded by several execution errors that left Ferrari outside the podium positions. The Drivers’ Championship already appears largely decided, although Ferrari may still have an opportunity in the Constructors’ Championship, an objective the team continues to pursue after gaining another point on Mercedes in Hungary.
Formula 1 now enters its summer break before the season resumes with the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
Leave a Reply