Blame it on traffic! Pre-Hungary favourites Ferrari dissect disappointing underperformance

The SF-26 had shown convincing pace throughout Friday practice. Lewis Hamilton then qualified on the front row, only 0.012 seconds behind McLaren polesitter Lando Norris, while Leclerc lined up alongside him in third.

Yet Ferrari’s victory challenge effectively disappeared within seconds of the start. Leclerc suffered wheelspin from the dirty side of the grid on used Soft tyres and dropped from third to fifth before the end of Turn 1. Hamilton made a cleaner launch on fresh Softs but could not find a way past Oscar Piastri or Max Verstappen.

That left both Ferraris trapped behind rivals on a circuit where overtaking remains brutally difficult. Norris controlled the race from the front, Verstappen secured second and championship leader Kimi Antonelli completed the podium for Mercedes.

Ferrari were left dissecting how a weekend carrying genuine winning potential produced only 22 points. Team principal Fred Vasseur admitted the team’s problems began during qualifying and escalated when Leclerc lost three positions at the opening corner.

“The race did not go well for us, with too many issues and mistakes, even if the first of those was made yesterday in qualifying,” Vasseur said. “At the start Charles dropped from P2 to P5 after Turn 1, because he had too much wheelspin and we found ourselves with both cars not only behind Piastri but also behind Verstappen.”

Ferrari attempted to recover Hamilton’s position through strategy. The seven-time World Champion stopped on Lap 13 and initially rejoined ahead of Verstappen after completing the undercut. However, Verstappen quickly reclaimed the place on track.

“We did the right thing undercutting Verstappen but we then lost the position again on track,” Vasseur explained. That moment summed up Ferrari’s afternoon. The SF-26 appeared competitive in isolation, but neither driver had enough of a performance advantage to complete decisive overtakes once caught in traffic.

The Hungaroring’s narrow layout magnified every mistake. Losing positions at the start or emerging from the pits behind another car can determine an entire race, regardless of underlying pace.

Leclerc believed the opening lap left him with almost no realistic route back towards the podium: “We lost a few positions at the start, and on a track like this, where overtaking is so difficult, we just couldn’t come back from that.

“The main challenge of my race was the grip. These new cars are extremely sensitive to the smallest changes and the same tyre compound can feel different across stints," added the Moneggasque.

Ferrari’s Friday pace had established them among the favourites. However, Leclerc suggested their rivals had hidden more performance than initially appeared: "We looked strong on Friday but our competitors were conservative.

"We realised after qualifying that we would struggle a bit more than it first seemed. We have performed very well on tracks we did not expect to do so well on and not reached our goals on tracks we expected to be strong," ventured Leclerc.

That inconsistency remains one of Ferrari’s major concerns heading into the summer shutdown. The car has won twice this season and made clear progress through its upgrade programme, but its competitive window remains difficult to predict.

“The whole team back home in Maranello and at the track has done an amazing job in bringing upgrades to our package, which has allowed us to make solid progress and be competitive, including winning two races.

“Now we will take some time to recharge and come back stronger, analysing our season so far and continuing on this positive trajectory after the summer break,” Leclerc added.

In the #44 Ferrari, Hamilton finished behind Leclerc after a late pit stop and five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Ferrari brought both cars in for Soft tyres after Piastri stopped with a mechanical failure on Lap 55. Hamilton lost ground to Verstappen and Antonelli during the sequence before his penalty dropped him behind Leclerc in the final classification.

Hamilton felt Ferrari’s result did not represent the performance available from the car: “I’m really grateful to everyone in the team for the work they’ve put in over the first half of the season. We’ve made some genuine progress, and the car was good again this weekend, which is very positive."

“It’s obviously frustrating to come away with so little when the potential was there. Everyone back at the factory and here at the track has worked incredibly hard to keep moving us forward, so it’s disappointing not to convert that into the result we were capable of,” Hamilton said.

He remains P2 in the 2026 F1 Drivers’ Championship, but acknowledged that his recent weekends have damaged his challenge against Antonelli: “The last few races have been costly on my side, with too many points left on the table. But I’m still second in the championship, there’s a long way to go, and there are plenty of opportunities ahead.”

While the result was disappointing, but Vasseur identified positives: “In the end we pitted both cars for Softs as Lewis was on used Hards and would have been vulnerable. On a positive note, we have closed a bit more the gap to Mercedes. Now it’s time to recharge the batteries to come back stronger in the second part of the season.”

Ferrari will return at Zandvoort on August 23 knowing the SF-26 has the pace to fight at the front. Hungary showed that performance alone is not enough. Starts, qualifying position, tyre behaviour and strategy must all align if Scuderia are to convert potential into victories after the summer break.

While they outscored Mercdes by a point on the day, the harsh reality for the Reds is that it might've been a lot more had Ferrari had their A-game at Hungaroring on Sunday.