Ferrari with absent subscribers in Hungary

It’s a jail, a spanking, a beating, nay, a beating, it’s a punishment. On the banks of the Danube, Ferrari drank the cup. And it has the bitter taste of lost illusions. Imagine: more than 61 seconds difference between the winner Lewis Hamilton and the best representative of the Reds, Sebastian Vettel, on the 3rd step of the podium. All on a dry track.

The Maranello house barely avoided the humiliation of being taken for a ride. Reassured by the podium gleaned on his home turf at Hockenheim the previous weekend, the quadruple German world champion saw the winding Hungarian circuit as the true barometer of Ferrari's progress after several races where the engine power had allowed the Scuderia to play the outposts.

Vettel wanted to get to the bottom of it; the response was scathing. The first slap fell in qualifying with a gap of almost half a second between the Red Bull of the poleman Max Verstappen and the SF90s of Charles Leclerc and Vettel. Before contemplating this time gap, the Monegasque had given himself a big scare by damaging his rear wing in Q1 following a spin at the exit of the last corner.

“I was very lucky to be able to leave, admitted the former Formula 2 champion. I must thank the team for the work accomplished. It was a completely unnecessary foul at this stage of qualifying. That’s two mistakes I’ve made in the space of two Grands Prix. »

Leclerc then recovered well to finally beat his teammate by 28 thousandths. Devilishly fast in a first sector composed mainly of straight ends, the Ferraris dropped tenths by handfuls as soon as the road started to wind.

“We got the most out of the car today, judged Vettel after qualifying. Maybe I still had a little bit under my feet but not enough to tickle the Top 3. We have to be realistic: we are missing some in the corners. We are having trouble keeping the tires within the optimal operating window and we are struggling with grip in the final corners. This confirms the trends observed for weeks, even months. » Namely that the Ferrari is a rocket that cannot turn. Annoying when we do F1 and not drag racing.

Sinking in the turns

While Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton dynamited the race in an incredibly thrilling mano a mano, the Maranello cars only appeared even more ordinary, stuck in a no man's land located between the current elite and the best representatives of the " Formula 1.5 » what are the McLaren. By hitting the front wing of Valtteri Bottas with his left rear tire, Leclerc almost made his life even more complicated on the first lap, but the Monegasque was able to continue without suffering a puncture. The Scuderia then chose to separate the strategies of its drivers.

For Leclerc, a switch from Medium tires to Hard tires on the 27th lap, when Vettel switched to plan C, stopping 12 laps later to finish on Soft. Taking advantage of his fresher tires, he joined up with his teammate and took 3rd place from him with four laps to go.

“We couldn't keep up with Max and Lewis, conceded Vettel when he got out of the car. It was pretty clear throughout the weekend. We have work to do. It’s good to take a break for a few weeks. Everyone has been working hard at the factory, we need to recharge the batteries. The back-to-school trails should suit us better. »

With their routes giving pride of place to power, Spa-Francorchamps and Monza seem more favorable to Ferrari on paper. It will still be necessary to avoid the small operational hiccups still glimpsed in Hungary, in particular a pit stop of 5”8 for Vettel due to a problem with the front right.

“We knew this circuit would be difficult for us, added Leclerc. We must not panic, even if we are still far from Mercedes and Red Bull. It’s also a shame to have lost 3rd place in the last laps. This is not the first time where I have lost the rear tires a little at the end and thus found myself in difficulty. I have to check with the team to understand how Seb is doing better in this area. »

Coue method

When taking stock of this visit to Magyar lands, Mattia Binotto remained true to himself. Calm, serene and follower of a positive attitude. “Rather than focusing on the minute of delay, we can see that we were very fast the previous weekend in Germany and further behind in Budapest,” said the head of Gestione Sportiva. Our level of performance varies enormously from one track to another.

We know that our car lacks maximum downforce and on a circuit like the Hungaroring, you are inevitably in trouble. You suffer even more in the race than in qualifying because, over a long stint, the car slips and the tires overheat. We are doing everything to ensure that the current car and next year's car generate more downforce. I would like to point out that the lack of support is not our only weakness. It would be unfair to the people of Maranello to reduce our current concerns to this extent. »

Ferrari is heading quietly towards an 11th campaign without the slightest title but Binotto refuses to abandon the development of the SF90 on the grounds that the technical regulations will hardly change in 2020. In the meantime, Red Bull is increasingly asserting itself as the second force in the field behind Mercedes. Small consolation for the Scuderia: the energy can giant can currently only count on one car to steal points. In Budapest, the two rivals left back to back with 27 units in their bag. A more than flattering result for a Ferrari team which we wonder if it will manage to win even one race this season.