Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was pleasantly surprised by his car’s performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished in fourth place.
Ferrari has struggled recently, particularly after introducing a new upgrade package in Barcelona that led to severe bouncing issues. However, slight modifications to the SF-24’s floor for the Hungarian GP seemed to have improved the car’s stability, although it still lags behind McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes. The team is optimistic about building on this configuration for the remainder of the season.
Leclerc’s race at the Hungaroring was notable for his impressive start, moving from sixth to fifth position. Throughout the race, he battled with Lewis Hamilton for fourth place and managed to close in on the Hamilton-Verstappen fight due to a strategic tyre offset. A late misjudgment by Verstappen allowed Leclerc to finish in fourth. Leclerc described this as a positive turnaround, despite acknowledging that they still need to do further work.
“We turned it around today,” Leclerc commented. “We had a solid race with good tyre management and pace. A P4 is not our ultimate goal, but we performed better than expected. Overtaking was difficult on this track, and managing overheating while staying close to Lewis was challenging. We made the most of our opportunities and brought home valuable points for the team.”
His teammate Carlos Sainz had a more solitary race. After losing positions to Hamilton, Leclerc, and Fernando Alonso at the start. Sainz managed to regain his place from Alonso early on but struggled to keep pace with the leaders. Ferrari’s strategic decision to put Sainz on a different strategy paid off somewhat. Allowing him to show impressive late-race pace, but he ultimately finished in sixth.
“It was a tough race for me,” Sainz admitted. “The start was crucial here, and it affected my first two stints. I had to overtake cars to get to P6, and from there, it was a rather solitary race. The last stint allowed me to push more after extending with the Hard tyres, but overall, we lacked pace compared to the front runners. Belgium will be a different challenge, and we need to consider our approach to finish the first half of the season strongly.”
Both drivers will now look ahead to the Belgian Grand Prix, hoping to continue building on Ferrari’s progress.
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