Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton experienced opposite ends of the emotional spectrum during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, which ended with a commanding win for McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Lando Norris led a dominant 1–2 finish ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had to settle for fourth place after starting on pole.
Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, struggled throughout the race and ultimately finished 12th, unable to recover from a disappointing qualifying session.
The weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix once again highlighted the brutal importance of tyre management and precision in modern F1.
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An up-and-down race for Ferrari
Leclerc had shocked the paddock on Saturday by grabbing pole position, despite Ferrari’s ongoing struggles with tyre warm-up throughout the season.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur admitted how close Leclerc had come to elimination in Q2, calling it ‘the hardest pole we have achieved’.
“We survived by a tenth. Charles finally got the tyres switched on. Everything is so sensitive between first and tenth,” Vasseur said.
While Ferrari found optimism in Leclerc’s qualifying, Hamilton’s weekend quickly spiraled in the opposite direction.
After barely missing out on Q3, the seven-time world champion was visibly deflated and shouldered the blame for the poor showing.
“It’s just me every time. I’m useless, absolutely useless. The team has no problem; you’ve seen the car’s on pole. They probably need to change driver,” he said post-qualifying, sparking concern from fans and pundits alike.
No momentum for Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton’s frustration stemmed from a weekend where the ex-Mercedes driver once again lacked consistency and struggled to extract performance at critical moments.
Despite his track record as one of the sport’s greatest drivers, the 105-time race winner found no route forward on Sunday, finishing in the same position he started: 12th.
Vasseur offered some perspective, pointing out how fine the margins were.
“Hamilton was out in Q2, Charles only just made it. Managing the out lap is always tricky; overheat the tyres in Turn 1, and you compromise the whole lap,” he said.
While Leclerc raised Ferrari’s hopes by leading the race in the pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Leclerc couldn’t repeat his Monaco GP win in 2024.
Meanwhile, this is yet another win for McLaren’s Lando Norris, who has been racking them up this season.
He celebrated his Monaco Grand Prix win in style, relaxing on a $50 million superyacht that is best described as a floating palace.
The British driver even won the British Grand Prix, justifying the expensive tickets at Silverstone by bringing local fans a victory on home soil.
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