After starting the Hungarian GP weekend as favorites, Ferrari failed to even reach the podium on Sunday (26)—Charles Leclerc was the team’s top finisher in fourth place. Frédéric Vasseur, team principal, admitted that everything went wrong and that he had anticipated a stronger result. He also explained that clean air made all the difference and that they were unable to take advantage of it.
Ferrari’s chances of a strong finish in Hungary dropped significantly at lights out: Leclerc slipped from second to fifth, while Lewis Hamilton moved up to fourth but found himself stuck behind Max Verstappen. The seven-time champion briefly passed his rival after the first pit-stop window, but was repassed shortly after and couldn’t fight back.
Lewis came under pressure from Charles a few laps later, though no team orders were issued. Meanwhile, Andrea Kimi Antonelli was closing the gap on both. After both Ferrari drivers completed their second tire change, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed following Oscar Piastri’s retirement, and the team called both Hamilton and Leclerc back into the pits—a decision disapproved of by Hamilton, who was subsequently handed a 5-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
After taking the checkered flag in fourth and fifth, Vasseur made no attempt to hide his disappointment when speaking to Sky Sports. The Frenchman stressed that he expected a better outcome and noted that they were the only frontrunners to be overtaken on track.
“When you secure a 1-2 on Friday, you expect a different result, but everything went wrong. We were the only ones to be overtaken on track by Verstappen and we also picked up penalties,” the Ferrari boss admitted, before explaining what happened to Leclerc at the start.
“At the start, Charles dropped from second to fifth through Turn 1 because of excessive wheelspin, leaving us with both cars not only behind Piastri, but behind Verstappen as well. We made the right call with the undercut on the Red Bull, but then we lost the position on track again,” he detailed.
Vasseur also highlighted the critical role of clean air at the Hungaroring. “Running in free air changes everything—just look at what [Lando] Norris achieved. Our pace was good, but we couldn’t make use of it. The field is so competitive and everyone is so close that you have to minimize errors, and we failed to do that,” he emphasized.
Finally, the Ferrari team principal explained the rationale behind pitting Hamilton under the Virtual Safety Car. “At the end, we double-stacked both cars for soft tires because Lewis was on used hards and would have been vulnerable. On the positive side, we slightly narrowed the gap to Mercedes. Now it’s time to recharge our batteries and come back stronger in the second half of the season,” he concluded.
Formula 1 now enters the summer break. The 2026 season resumes from August 21–23 with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
