Scuderia Ferrari Takes Fourth and Fifth at Hungarian Grand Prix After Difficult Sunday
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and fifth for Ferrari at the Hungarian Grand Prix, a frustrating result after a weekend where the SF-26 never ran in clean air.
- P4 (Leclerc), P5 (Hamilton)
- 22
- 5 seconds
- 2nd
What Happened
Scuderia Ferrari HP left the Hungarian Grand Prix with Charles Leclerc fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth at the Hungaroring. The team said the result reflected a less-than-perfect weekend and not the SF-26's true potential, with both drivers stuck in traffic on a track where overtaking is extremely difficult. Several aspects of qualifying and the race condemned the pair to a frustrating Sunday.
Leclerc, starting on the dirty side on used Softs, lost ground through wheelspin; Hamilton crossed the line fourth, ahead of Leclerc.
Hamilton made his first pit stop and briefly rejoined ahead of Verstappen, who reclaimed the position almost immediately.
After Piastri stopped on track, Ferrari double-stacked both cars for Soft tyres; Hamilton lost positions and later received a five-second penalty for pit-lane speeding.
“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.”
“It's obviously frustrating to come away with so little when the potential was there.”
Ferrari remains second in the Constructors' championship, Hamilton second in the Drivers' standings, and Leclerc fourth. The team scored 22 points from the weekend. Formula 1 now enters its summer shutdown, with the next round at Zandvoort on 23 August for the Dutch Grand Prix.
Previously from Ferrari N.V.
Over the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, Ferrari showed strong practice form: Hamilton was fastest and Leclerc second in FP2, and Hamilton was second in final practice. That makes Sunday's fourth and fifth a disappointment after a promising Friday.
- Hamilton and Leclerc Go 1-2 in Hungarian GP FP2
- Hamilton Second, Leclerc Fourth in Final Hungarian GP Practice
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Ferrari N.V.'s official releases.
Why this matters
Ferrari remains second in the Constructors' championship and Lewis Hamilton stays second in the Drivers' standings, so the damage is limited, but the team left points on the table on a track where overtaking is extremely difficult. Race execution errors, including a pit-lane speeding penalty for Hamilton, are costly in a tight championship fight.
Terms in This Story
- Dirty side of the grid
- The side of the starting grid where the track surface is less swept and offers less grip.
- Undercut
- A pit strategy where a driver pits before a rival to use fresh tyres to overtake while the rival remains on old tyres.
- Pit lane speed limit
- The maximum speed allowed in the pit lane; exceeding it draws a penalty.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.