Vasseur: We expect to be fighting near the front

Is that overconfidence from Vasseur? After all his lads were P9 and P10 come the end of the British Grand Prix. On that Sunday, they were at the wrong end of a very tight midfield, where everyone is chasing the rampant Red Bulls.

The Best of the Rest has varied from Fernando Alonso doing marvellous things in the Aston Martin, to McLaren's Silverstone resurgence, with Alex Albon's Williams, a couple of Alpines and the Mercedes all mixing it where Ferrari play.

While it's almost always a sure bet these days that Verstappen will win, the question is only by how much. The real uncertainty is behind him, as there seems to be only him at the front, and the rest. No longer three teams way ahead, five fighting and the other two backmarkers. This year most have had a crack at Q3.

Thus Ferrari, winless for a year, doing the business this weekend is steeped in optimism which Vasseur clearly has. The Frenchman is quoted in the Scuderia's preview of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Round 11 of the 2023 F1 World Championship said: "Now we come to Budapest: for our part, we are determined to continue making progress.

"This began with the introduction of several technical updates on the SF-23. Even if Silverstone saw a dip in the upward trend, there were clear signs of progress in Canada and Austria and we believe that we now have a car that will allow Charles and Carlos to give of their best at the Hungaroring.

"They both like this track and have prepared very well for this weekend, paying particular attention to qualifying, which is always very important on this tight circuit," ventured Vasseur.

Ferrari report that this weekend in Budapest marks the debut of the ATA (alternative tyre allocation) for qualifying. Up until now, Pirelli has supplied 13 sets of slick tyre per driver: eight of the softest, three medium and two of the hardest.

In Budapest, that number comes down to 11: four Soft (half the usual allocation), four Medium and three Hard. The regulations now state that a driver must only use Hard tyres in Q1, Medium in Q2 and Soft in Q3.

Vasseur touched on the new qualifying format to be trialled at Hungaroring: "All the teams have to deal with the new qualifying rules relating to the use of a single tyre compound for each phase of qualifying. This adds yet another variable that needs to be looked at carefully, given how evenly matched are most of the teams.

We expect to be fighting near the front on Saturday and Sunday," declared Vasseur, who has yet to win as Ferrari F1 boss after ten races in charge.

Despite Vasseur's well-intentioned optimism, the harsh reality suggests otherwise for F1's greatest team in Hungary. Three points from both Sainz and Leclerc combined at Silverstone, last time out, is hardly encouraging. But as mentioned behind Max it is a lottery, maybe it will be a lucky Saturday and Sunday for Ferrari.

The team report also tipped a hat to their own legacy at Hungaroring, which first appeared on the F1 calendar in 1986 and has been a fixture ever since. This year’s race is the 38th. On its debut here, Formula 1 became the first top-level form of motorsport to take place behind the Iron Curtain.

It was of great significance, as the regular reciprocal boycotting of sporting events between East and West, such as the 1980 Moscow Olympics and the games held in Los Angeles in 1984, still very much dominated the news headlines and the global political landscape of the time.

The race has always been held at the HungaroringF Ferrari has won it seven times in 37 starts there, tied with Williams. McLaren has the record 11 wins at the venue

Ferrari's first victory dates back to 1989 when Nigel Mansell won from 12th on the grid. It came after he pulled off an overtake that has passed into the realms of legend, as he swooped past the leader Ayrton Senna when the Brazilian hesitated for a split second as he came up to lap Stefan Johansson in the Onyx.