Ferrari faced a challenging weekend at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix, with both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton falling short of the podium despite showing strong pace in practice sessions. Team Principal Frederic Vasseur expressed clear dissatisfaction with the team's overall performance, highlighting a series of errors that contributed to the disappointing result.
During Friday practice, Ferrari appeared competitive, with Leclerc and Hamilton setting the fastest times. However, the qualifying session saw Lando Norris secure pole position, while Hamilton received a three-place grid penalty for blocking teammate Oscar Piastri. Leclerc started second and Hamilton fifth, both on soft tyres aiming to make early gains.
Leclerc dropped to fifth by the end of the first lap, trailing Hamilton, who engaged in a battle for the podium with Max Verstappen. Hamilton briefly overtook Verstappen after the first pit stop but was later relegated to fifth place following a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane and a late third stop. Meanwhile, Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes finished third, extending his lead over Hamilton in the Drivers' standings to 50 points.
Vasseur described the race as a situation where "everything went wrong" for Ferrari. He pointed to mistakes at the start, the penalty for Hamilton, pit stop issues, and difficulties in defending positions on track as key factors that undermined the team's race. Vasseur also noted the importance of improving the power unit, emphasizing Ferrari’s strategy of incremental upgrades at each race compared to McLaren’s approach of larger but less frequent updates.
While Ferrari has been narrowing the performance gap to Mercedes, Vasseur stressed the need for consistent execution and maintaining development momentum to stay competitive. The Hungarian Grand Prix highlighted the challenges the team still faces in converting promising pace into strong race results.
With the summer break following the Hungarian round, Ferrari will have time to reflect on the setbacks and focus on refining their approach. The comments from Vasseur underline the critical areas the team aims to address as the season continues.
