Ferrari’s setback in Hungary: Is the chance of the World Championship title being squandered like this?

Ferrari is facing a barrage of criticism following this entertaining Hungarian Grand Prix. It all began in qualifying, when superstar Lewis Hamilton was warned too late that Oscar Piastri was closing in fast in his McLaren. The helpless Hamilton therefore got in the Australian’s way, resulting in a three-place grid penalty instead of second on the grid.

The two Ferraris were then – as the only cars from the top teams – sent out onto the track for the Hungarian Grand Prix on soft tyres; Ferrari did not swap positions even though Leclerc was the faster driver, and the timing of the pit stops raises questions. Added to this was another penalty for Hamilton (for speeding in the pit lane) and the misjudgement of bringing both cars into the pits for fresh tyres during a VSC phase.

Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli said ‘thank you’ and moved up to second and third place. When we consider just how strong Ferrari were in qualifying (Hamilton second fastest, Leclerc third fastest), there remains a nagging feeling that the Italians squandered their chance of podium finishes here.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur tried to find a positive angle after the race: “We scored more points than Mercedes today.”

But of course the Frenchman knows: “We’d expected a one-two, because we were the best at the start of the weekend. We had both cars up front, but not on the right day. We made too many mistakes and took a lot of wrong decisions. We were the only ones to lose positions on the track; everything went in the wrong direction.”

For team founder Giancarlo Minardi (78), too, Ferrari’s Hungarian Grand Prix was a missed opportunity, as he makes clear in his column on his own website, www.minardi.it: “A minor incident is enough to send you from heaven to hell, as Ferrari’s race shows.”

“A less-than-perfect start by Charles Leclerc and the penalty imposed on Lewis Hamilton for speeding in the pit lane affected a result that should have been better.”

“I don’t think Ferrari had the potential to win in Hungary, but they certainly could have aimed for a place on the podium.”