“
You can't hope to win a championship by doing races like that.
I hope that the second half of the season will smile on us a little more, but above all we need to improve.
“This painful observation comes from Charles Leclerc at the microphone of Canal + at the end of a new disappointing race for the Scuderia.
The Ferrari driver, third after qualifying, had a golden opportunity to take points from Max Verstappen, leader of the world championship and only tenth on the starting grid, in Hungary.
But, as often, the Italians, who were aiming for the double in the land of the Magyars, got lost in strategy, accumulating errors and suspect choices.
Consequently, neither of the two cars saw the podium.
A turning point in this 2022 season.
To discover
Formula 1: the calendar for the 2022 season
Formula 1: manufacturers' classification
Formula 1: drivers classification
Bad choice
We don't really know where to start when it comes to summing up the first part of the Scuderia season.
The transalpine team alternated between very good and very bad during the first 13 races but this end of July is hurting, very badly.
After Leclerc's mistake in France, who made a mistake while leading the race, Ferrari was expected in Hungary and the first signals sent were good with the best times on Friday during practice and second and third places at the from qualifications.
Only George Russell, who took pole, managed to get ahead of the Reds on Saturday.
The ideal scenario.
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But it is in the race, on Sunday, that the shoe pinches for the Transalpins.
And this was again confirmed on the banks of the Danube.
Specialist in bad choices, Ferrari had opted for medium tires at the start.
A good idea since halfway through the race, Charles Leclerc was leading the pack and Carlos Sainz was in third place while Max Verstappen was sailing in fifth position.
But, it doesn't take much to disrupt Ferrari's plans this season.
This time, the Dutchman, yet fifth eight seconds from the lead, just had to anticipate his second and final stop on lap 38. This completely panicked the Scuderia who felt forced to cover the strategy of the Batavian devil .
But, while the world champion put on medium tires to go to the end, Leclerc put on hard rubber.
The dream scenario for Red Bull
The reason?
Starting in mediums, Ferrari had put the same type of tires on the second stint.
Except that in Formula 1, as long as the race remains on a dry track, the drivers are forced to put on two different types of rubber.
It was then impossible for number 16 to cover more than thirty laps with soft tires, hence the choice of hard tyres.
Disillusioned, Charles Leclerc did not understand this choice at the end of the race: “
It's difficult.
We were fast on the mediums.
We decided to cover Max
(Verstappen)
with the hards when he was in the mediums and it was carnage…
”
It's difficult.
We were fast on the mediums.
We decided to cover Max (Verstappen) with the hards when he was in the mediums and it was a carnage…
Charles Leclerc
Coming out third, behind Sainz and Hamilton, the Monegasque was quickly swallowed up by the Dutchman.
Helpless and at a standstill with tires that did not work, Charles Leclerc, finally sixth in a race he led, quickly tumbled in the standings, even making a third stop to get rid of his cursed hard rubber, while Max Verstappen spun him, to victory, the eighth this season, after the last stops of Sainz and Hamilton.
The dream scenario for Red Bull.
The disaster for Ferrari because Carlos Sainz, fourth, missed the podium in turn, unable to keep up with the pace of the Mercedes at the end of the race.
And, when doing the accounts, the figures are scary since Max Verstappen now has an 80-point lead over Charles Leclerc.
A chasm nine races from the end.