Ferrari’s performance during qualifying was not positive. A seventh place for Charles Leclerc, behind direct rivals for the constructors’ standings, is not a good starting point; while Carlos Sainz compromised his Saturday by hitting the barriers. On the Danube, the Maranello team did not manage to repeat the positive Saturday as in Monte Carlo: hopes for a good performance did not materialize, and doubts about the stability of the car returned to their place.
“Budapest was supposed to be a fairly favorable stage, but the situation did not go well. Charles Leclerc was also unlucky: between the seventh place and the second row there was a gap pf 75 thousandths, the Monegasque however complained about a too unstable rear, also due to the wind. Charles will play a lot at the start, while it will be hard for Carlos Sainz to recover from the fifteenth box. He lost control due to a sudden burst of 40 km / h at turn 14, a mistake which had already happened to him in Baku. He apologized: long live honesty” – Corriere della Sera wrote after the qualifying session at the Hungaroring.
Resignation is in fashion in the next day’s newspapers. The history of Formula 1 has sometimes offered splendid comebacks from the bottom of the standings also in Budapest, but it would be a real challenge to see Carlos Sainz close to the top 5. “Leclerc had the pace, but he finished seventh and a podium from the fourth row is impossible. Sainz, due to a gust of wind, went to kiss the wall. Ferrari damaged, race destroyed. In Hungary, the eighth row is ballast that knocks out.” La Repubblica added.
“The one who is really sorry is Carlos Sainz, who was quick in the third practice session in the morning and fourth after Q1. Then that mistake a few minutes from the end of Q2 in turn 14 and the crash against the barriers, for a very bitter elimination that today will force him to start 15th. On this track almost a sentence. That Carlos’ day had not been born under a lucky star was understood in the morning, when the Maranello team announced that a new power unit had been mounted on the number 55; in unit 2 anomalous values were found. It was decided to send the engine to Maranello for inspection. Now the focus is on the possible damage to the gearbox reported in the impact on the barriers “, analyzes the Gazzetta dello Sport.
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