Ferrari, touted as the season's strongest favorite ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, essentially defeated itself in Budapest. Team principal Frédéric Vasseur had said after Friday's practice, "We're not looking for the best Friday, we're looking for the best Sunday"; however, Sunday turned out to be an absolute nightmare for Scuderia.
Everything was fine until Saturday.
Ferrari had a great start to the week, opening up a significant gap of half a second to McLaren, Mercedes, and other rivals in both FP1 and FP2. In qualifying, Charles Leclerc was second and Lewis Hamilton third; pole position was ultimately secured by Lando Norris, who also won the race. The gap between Leclerc and Norris was only 0.012 seconds, so there was no reason to panic yet. However, Hamilton caused a minor disturbance after qualifying by accidentally parking in front of the number 1 sign.
The real problem arose when Hamilton was penalized with a three-place grid penalty for cutting in front of Oscar Piastri in Q3. Vasseur took the blame from the team, admitting they hadn't warned Hamilton in time about the approaching hot-lap driver. As a result, Hamilton started the race from fifth place instead of second.
The chain of errors in the race
The first question of Sunday began with a strategic choice: Ferrari was the only team to opt for soft tires in the first stint, unlike the other top teams. Leclerc explained that due to the complicated qualifying schedule, they only had used tires left and thought the soft tires would be advantageous. The reality was different; Leclerc dropped from second to fifth place at the start, a situation that proved decisive for him throughout the race.
Hamilton's pit stops were also unsuccessful in terms of traffic management; the British driver fell directly behind another car on all three pit exits. At the first stop, Ferrari allowed Hamilton to overtake Max Verstappen; however, Verstappen soon caught up with Hamilton at the first corner and regained the position. At the last pit stop, Ferrari pulled both drivers inside during the virtual safety car period. A similar mistake had cost Hamilton second place at Silverstone just two races earlier; the same scenario was repeated in Hungary. Kimi Antonelli, who pitted with fresh tires just before the virtual safety car, was the direct winner of this decision and took the podium. Moreover, Hamilton received an additional five-second penalty for exceeding the speed limit in the pit stop; this was his third penalty in a row. When considered together with Saturday's qualifying penalty, the weekend painted a truly chaotic picture for Ferrari.
At the end of the race, Vasseur summarized the situation with these words: 'On Friday we were 1st or 2nd; we didn't expect 4th and 5th place. We made too many mistakes today.' Ferrari had celebrated unexpected victories in Barcelona and Silverstone; however, in Hungary, where they had assumed the role of favorites, they were overwhelmed by this pressure.