Every Ferrari fan in the world was let down heavily on Sunday in Hungary. Charles Leclerc summoned every power imaginable on Saturday to get pole position going into Sunday’s race. He was in control the whole day until it was confirmed after the race by Fred Vasseur that a chassis problem occurred around lap 40, which hindered Leclerc. The team tried to fix his problem by pitting him for a fresh set of hard tires, a move that didn’t make much sense in hindsight. Unfortunately, Leclerc’s race was compromised. There was nothing he could do. Leclerc went from pole to fourth, missing the podium.
Ferrari is a hot mess right now. Coming off the announcement of the extension of Vasseur, this isn’t ideal. Questions arose as to why it happened in the first place, given how the season has been going so far, and this weekend certainly didn’t help.
The McLarens dominated Friday’s practice sessions while Oscar Piastri led the board in FP3 early on Saturday. It looked like another papaya front row was on the way. Well, Leclerc stunned the world, including himself, coming out of nowhere to qualify first. He was about two to four tenths off the McLaren in the first three practices, so he was breathing down their necks, but no one expected that. He was shocked and jubilant on the radio and couldn’t believe what had just happened.
With the pace the McLarens showed beforehand, it was going to be tough to beat them anyhow, but starting on pole helped because it’s difficult to overtake in Budapest. Leclerc said in the post-qualifying interviews that he didn’t understand anything anymore. He beat Piastri by 0.026 of a second, and both Lando Norris and Piastri’s best times came in Q2. All Ferrari had to do was execute on Sunday, and they didn’t.
Saturday’s qualifying for Lewis Hamilton was the complete opposite. He failed to miss Q3 by 0.015 of a second, and qualified 12th. During the post-qualifying interviews, Hamilton called himself “absolutely useless.” Even the poor interviewer felt bad and tried to put some blame on the car, but Hamilton shut it all down, claiming it was all on him. He also mentioned that Ferrari should start looking for another driver, because he isn’t cutting it.
The struggles continued into Sunday with Hamilton, as he couldn’t get anything going the entire Grand Prix. He finished 12th, the same spot he qualified in, and got lapped for the first time since Imola in 2022 when he was with Mercedes. Hamilton had a moment with Verstappen in a battle for 11th, and it was noted, but he claimed he forgot it even happened in the post-race interviews. The W13 was a pile of junk, and so is the SF-25. After the race, he said he was happy that the summer break was finally here and that he was looking forward to it.
How does Ferrari screw this up? This is one of, if not the biggest, switches in F1 history. This man is on the same list and pedestal as Michael Schumacher, a Ferrari legend. And they’re breaking him down, race by race, and now he’s… this.
Coming into this season, Ferrari had the best driver lineup alongside McLaren (Piastri and Norris). The Constructors’ Championship was in play after they just missed out in 2024. The only thing they had to do was provide the drivers with a car that somewhat worked. The SF-25 doesn’t work, and the upgrades presented this season are doing nothing.
Leclerc has had his moments in figuring out the car. Hamilton had one moment, winning the Sprint in China— other than that, nothing.
There’s definitely something going on behind the scenes, too. Both Leclerc and Hamilton have made cryptic statements in interviews. Morale is low, and Ferrari being Ferrari, has successfully broken two of the best drivers on the grid. With how things are looking with McLaren being years ahead of everyone else, there’s a real good possibility that Ferrari will go a year without winning a single grand prix.
It’s a shame.
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