The war for victory was reduced to just two: McLaren and Red Bull Racing. After qualifying for the Hungary Grand Prix, both Ferrari drivers agree that they expected to be in good shape. . . but it was not like that.
Persistent bouncing disruptions plagued both Ferraris, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz admitting they came into the Hungary GP weekend with the aim of maximising their own performance, not competing with the leaders.
Ferrari’s SF-24 has faced persistent bouncing issues since the latest regulations were introduced in 2022, but those issues have been exacerbated thanks to a functionality upgrade carried out by Scuderia Barcelona.
The improvement, perceived as a “performance” rather than a handling improvement, helped increase the pace, according to the drivers. However, the car has become more difficult to drive, and improvements from Red Bull and McLaren gave rival groups a leg up on the Prancing Horse.
“I think at the start of the weekend we knew we had to get back to the point of McLaren and Red Bull,” Charles Leclerc admitted to the media after qualifying.
“But I think what we can do this weekend is maximise it, which I honestly think we did.
“The biggest problem now is that we don’t have the functionality to do it much better.
“So that’s what we’re going to do in the future. “
Carlos Sainz will start the Hungary GP from fourth position, with Leclerc sixth. The two men were separated by Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.
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In FP1, Ferrari looked fast, Sainz tries to keep up with the temperatures.
Sainz said he would like to have more time to analyse the knowledge about the package tweaks to see if they are working, but warned the assembled media: “Yesterday I wanted to keep everyone a bit calm because today I knew that truth checks were going to be carried out.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Charles Leclerc added: “We are fourth, third, the fastest car. We are very similar to Mercedes. . . but unfortunately, McLaren and Red Bull are now way ahead. “
However, it turns out that the team’s attempts to adapt to the speed of the leaders have not worked. Now, Ferrari seems determined to place its position within the team.
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