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It was now clear that Ferrari intended to continue trusting Frederic Vasseur. On Thursday, July 31, 2025, the official announcement came: the French manager and the Italian team confirmed they had reached an agreement to extend their contractual relationship on a multi-year basis. The French manager, who has been at Maranello since 2023, will continue to serve as Team Principal for the upcoming seasons. The press release emphasizes how Vasseur has laid solid foundations with the ambition of bringing Ferrari back to the top of Formula 1, and how the decision to renew his contract reflects Ferrari's determination to build on the foundation laid so far. It also highlights Vasseur’s ability to lead the team under pressure, embrace innovation, and pursue performance - qualities that align with Ferrari's long-term values and ambitions. His duties remain unchanged from December 2022, when he was also referred to as the team’s General Manager. Under his leadership, Ferrari has achieved 6 wins, 11 pole positions, and second place in the 2024 Constructors’ Championship. With the contract extension, a renewed sense of optimism surrounds Ferrari and Frederic Vasseur's future. The French manager will now continue the work started in the 2023 season. In Formula 1, it’s known that time is needed, and often continuity has paid off—this is why Ferrari’s leadership has once again chosen to rely on the French manager.
"I am grateful for the trust Ferrari continues to place in me. This renewal is not only a confirmation but a challenge to continue progressing, staying focused, and fulfilling our commitments. Over the last 30 months, we have laid solid foundations, and now we need to build on them with consistency and determination. We know what is expected of us, and we are all fully committed to meeting these expectations and taking the next step forward together".
The words of CEO Benedetto Vigna confirm that Ferrari’s management believes Vasseur’s path has been positive so far and that the manager has earned the chance to try to make his work a reality.
"Today we want to recognize what has been built and commit ourselves to what still needs to be achieved. This reflects our trust in Fred’s leadership, trust rooted in shared ambitions, mutual expectations, and clear responsibilities. We move forward with determination and focus, united in pursuing the level of performance Ferrari must aim for".
Charles Leclerc also commented on the renewal of Ferrari’s Team Principal’s contract during the Hungarian Grand Prix press conference, reaffirming the trust he has placed in Vasseur over the years.
"It doesn’t come as a surprise to me, but I’m very happy because especially in recent months there have been various rumors surrounding the team. I think Fred has an incredible vision: in Ferrari, the emotional aspect is an integral part of daily work because Italians, in general, are like that, they are passionate, and that’s what makes Ferrari so special and difficult. Fred is able to set aside emotions and have a clear vision of different situations, beyond all the noise surrounding the team. And this is very important. He has many other qualities, of course, such as the ability to get the best out of everyone at the factory, and when you put all this together, it can make a huge difference".
Charles Leclerc arrives in Hungary full of confidence. At Spa-Francorchamps, the Monegasque driver squeezed every tenth of performance out of the SF-25, both in qualifying and in the race, eventually securing his fifth podium of the season behind the unbeatable McLarens and ahead of a combative Max Verstappen, whom he expertly controlled, especially in wet track conditions. The Ferrari that arrives in Hungary gives the Monegasque driver a little more positive feeling compared to the last Grand Prix, technically speaking. The new rear suspension has helped the SF-25’s performance, and on a rear-limited circuit like this, it will have a significant impact: Leclerc is eager to get on track to assess the car’s actual improvements in a normal weekend, where the three free practice sessions will give a nearly definitive judgment on the technical package brought to Belgium.
However, the Monegasque has not had a great relationship with the Hungarian circuit, where he has never stepped onto the podium in seven attempts:
"I think it’s definitely the worst track of the season for me. I haven’t had great results here in the past: I’d like to understand why, maybe it’s something to do with my driving style and where I need to work a little bit more. I’ll try to reverse the trend, I hope we can have a great weekend, and I have faith in this. Do I have a podium-worthy car? We’ve been fighting for the top 3 in the last five or six weekends, but I don’t think we’re at a level yet where we can say we’re the second-strongest team. However, we’re making progress toward this goal, and we’re heading in the right direction".
At Spa, Charles Leclerc decisively won the battle against Lewis Hamilton, who is now 30 points behind in the World Championship:
"I was very curious to see how it would go against Lewis, but it’s still very early to judge. For him, it’s a new team, and I’m sure he’s still learning the differences from the past. Besides, we’re not fighting for wins or pole positions, and that changes a lot for a driver. For now, I’m fully focused on getting Ferrari back to the top. I’m happy with our level, and I think it should continue like this".
Returning to the initial topic, even Lewis Hamilton expressed satisfaction with Ferrari's decision to extend Frederic Vasseur’s contract on a multi-year basis.
"I found out yesterday, but you’ve heard my positive comments about Fred. I have nothing else to add; I told you it would be the right choice. Fred was the one who hired me, and I really wanted to work with him".
In the press conference, Hamilton was asked to compare Toto Wolff and Frederic Vasseur. The British driver responded:
"They are completely different people, but both are real racers. What I remember positively about Toto is his ability to understand how people worked best and get the most out of them. For example, with me, he gave me the right freedom to express myself how I wanted, and that allowed me to be the best version of myself. I think Fred is similar, although I’m still getting to know his working style. But I have absolute trust in him, as I’ve always said".
Regarding his adaptation to the Ferrari world, Lewis Hamilton emphasized:
"It’s just about trying to understand the environment you’re in and adapting. I think the people who work with you will eventually adapt too, to meet you halfway. The passion and desire to keep improving is the most incredible thing about this team, which has all the ingredients needed for success. I believe in it, and that’s why I signed up for it".
From the Spanish Grand Prix of 2016 to the Hungarian Grand Prix of 2025: this is the timeframe in which Max Verstappen will have contested 200 F1 races as a Red Bull Racing driver. The Dutch driver won his first F1 race at the first race with the Milton Keynes team, and has since added another 64 wins, bringing his current total to 65 victories in 199 races as a Red Bull driver (with a win percentage of an impressive 32.6%). This year, the World Champion has won in Suzuka and Imola. Judging by recent performances, it’s hard to predict celebrating his 200th GP with a victory, especially since the Budapest circuit should further highlight McLaren's strengths, which currently have no weaknesses.
"This week we’re heading to Hungary, and it will be my 200th race with the team, so it’s great to take a moment to reflect on all the successes we’ve had as a team and also look to the future. This is the last sprint before the summer break, during which the team can recover and recharge for the second half of the season. Spa was a bit disappointing for us: we had prepared for a wet race, but in the end, we didn’t race in the wet. However, we will learn from this race and work to improve our performance. Historically, the Hungaroring is not a track that suits our car. I like the second technical sector, but obviously, it’s difficult to overtake, so we’ll need to ensure we have a good qualifying session, and it’s very important to find the right balance for the car".
The F1 circus is approaching the summer break, and as usual, scenarios for the upcoming season are starting to take shape. The most interesting one, regarding Max Verstappen, is clarified before the Hungarian GP: as Helmut Marko had anticipated, the Dutch driver will remain with Red Bull Racing until 2026 and will honor his contract with the Milton Keynes team, which lasts until 2028. This dispels all the rumors suggesting a deal with Mercedes, unless there are changes from the Brackley team’s management, but it has always been clear that the decision would be made by the driver. And the driver has decided to stay, both because it’s the most logical move with the start of the new regulations (who can guarantee that Mercedes will be the strongest team in the next cycle?) and because Red Bull Racing’s top brass even went as far as to fire Christian Horner to show the world champion their intention to keep him at all costs.
"I’ve never said anything about this because I was only focused on talking with the team about how we could improve our performance and the ideas for next year. But I think it's time to put an end to all these rumors. For me, it has always been pretty clear that I would stay, no matter what. I think this was the general feeling within the team too, because we were always discussing what we could do with the car. When you’re not interested in staying, you stop talking about these things, and I’ve never done that. Do I expect similar discussions in twelve months? There might be speculations, but I never talk about my contract because I’m more interested in working on the performance".
Max Verstappen’s quality also lies in not ruling himself out of the world championship battle until mathematically eliminated. The Dutch driver needs a sporting miracle, as he would have to recover 81 points from Oscar Piastri and 65 points from Lando Norris, with only 11 races remaining. It’s clearly a desperate task, especially considering the difference between McLaren and Red Bull, but if there’s one driver who can manage it, it’s Verstappen. As Lando Norris says:
"Nothing is impossible. We proved it last year, but a lot of time has passed. We have a much more stable team with much better performance than Red Bull, but Max is easily one of the best drivers ever in Formula 1. As a driver, I wouldn’t rule him out, but we have a better car".
Oscar Piastri doesn’t quite agree:
"I suppose it’s now a battle between me and Lando. We’ve always been racing each other this season, though I expect the opposition to always be strong and make life difficult for us, especially on certain tracks between now and the end of the year. I’m not too worried about what happens; I just aim to win every race and extend my lead".
In 2024, Oscar Piastri arrived in Hungary as an inexperienced driver still learning from Lando Norris; now he is the leader of the World Championship, with a 16-point lead over his teammate, who is now being criticized for a lack of personality and coldness—qualities that the Australian driver excels at. The first post-break turning point was the 2024 Hungarian GP, which gave Piastri his first career win, after the team instructed Lando Norris to let him have the lead, as Piastri was disadvantaged by the pit stop strategy. Since that moment, Piastri has made a mental leap that has propelled him to the top of the World Championship.
"I think I have a lot of confidence in myself and believe I can do it. Not every weekend has been perfect for me, but then again, not many weekends in my life have been perfect. I’m just trying to put together a solid, consistent season, and I think that’s an important aspect. I believe I’m more than capable of continuing on this path for the rest of the year: I’m confident I can do it, but it won’t be easy. Given the level of the grid and my teammate, I always have to give my best: I suppose now it’s a battle between me and Lando. We’ve always been racing each other this season, but I expect the competition to always be strong and make life difficult for us, especially on certain tracks between now and the end of the year. I’m not too worried about what happens, I just aim to win every race and extend my lead: Lando and I are in the same car, which is the best, so naturally, he’ll be the closest competitor. I think this is historically a good track for us. I expect we’ll be strong this weekend as well. But there have been tracks this year where we thought we’d be much stronger than our competitors, but instead, we were all closer. At other times, the opposite happened. You never know, but I expect we’ll be ahead".
With Max Verstappen staying at Red Bull Racing until the 2026 season, it is now almost certain that George Russell will renew his contract with Mercedes. The British driver is currently fourth in the World Championship and has one victory and five podiums in this first part of the season. Russell has been able to maximize the performance of the W16, minimizing mistakes, and seems to have the right maturity to fight for the world title. What’s missing are the performances of a Mercedes that has been struggling in the ground effect car era: just 6 wins in 4 years. Ferrari (10 wins), McLaren (16), and Red Bull Racing (49) have done better.
"Formula 1 is a sport that generates frustration, as a driver, I’m at the mercy of the car’s competitiveness. I think I’m driving at my best level, and I’m proud of my performances. When I signed with Mercedes, I thought my time would come, and I still believe it. After four years, we haven’t won yet, but Schumacher took five years to win his first world title with Ferrari, and no one remembers those seasons anymore".
Russell is very clear on his thoughts:
"I’m not racing to be noticed or to get approval from others. I race because I love racing, I love winning, and I’m ultra-competitive. I don’t care if the public approves of me; if they like me, that’s great, but if not, I don’t care. I don’t feel underrated, those who know, know. I have nothing to prove; I’ve won in every championship I’ve competed in F4, F3, and F2 as a rookie. I’ve always beaten all my teammates except on one occasion. Other incredible drivers, like Leclerc, are in the same situation as me".
George Russell is very determined:
"There’s no specific behavior style to win. If you have the right car, you can do whatever you want, and people will accept it. I need to be George Russell, and follow what I believe in. And I believe I’ll be world champion. I know I’ve beaten Lewis Hamilton two out of three seasons when we were teammates".
Finally, Russell made a remark about his clashes with Verstappen, which seemed to not bother him too much:
"I don’t care, I don’t lose sleep over it. Once the visor is down, I race against everyone in the same way. I reacted the way I did in Qatar because he behaved like that with me, so I defended myself. You can’t let people walk all over you. I’m not the one to create conflicts, but if they attack me, I won’t just stand there and do nothing".
Andrea Kimi Antonelli wants to quickly forget a disappointing European season so far: the last races have been disastrous. Since the Emilia Romagna GP, the Italian driver has only scored points in Canada. Before the summer break, Antonelli has one last chance to break this annoying curse. To give Antonelli some confidence, Mercedes made a technical step back after the post-Spa emergency meeting, abandoning the rear suspension introduced in Imola, which so far has only shown results in Canada. A return to the old setup, which pleases the Italian driver, who adapted to the technical change far worse than Russell, mostly due to his lack of F1 experience.
"This weekend, we’ll return to the old suspension, and I hope this brings back some feeling with the car because, apart from Canada, I’ve struggled to drive it and gain confidence. I also didn’t adapt well because I kept trying to maintain my style and drive the car how I wanted, but it didn’t work: I have an aggressive style, and that made the W16 even more unpredictable. George, on the other hand, adapted a bit better, but we’ll both be driving with the old suspension. The outburst in Spa? I think sometimes it’s better to do that than keep everything inside. I was very frustrated with my performances, I felt the potential was much higher than what was shown, and I definitely felt much better afterward. Especially after qualifying, I clearly realized I wasn’t giving my best, and I looked within myself. In these cases, I like to move on quickly and get back on track: Spa was a tough weekend, and I really want to do well this weekend before the summer break. I think if we went straight into the break, it would have been really hard for me, because I would have been frustrated the whole time".
In Hungary, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff expresses his intention to confirm the driver lineup for 2026, saying:
"The direction we’re taking is to continue working with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli".
These statements convey confidence to the drivers, and so far, they have been followed by actions, considering that Russell is on the brink of a contract renewal. Even the Italian driver, despite the lack of results in recent months, seems likely to stay with the Mercedes team for a long time. More than anyone, Antonelli needs Wolff's support, who strongly believes in him and is helping him in every way because he recognizes his talent: Kimi feels this trust and now must use it to calm himself and return to form on track.
"I’ve never been worried, to be honest. I know the situation, I know what the team wants, especially looking ahead to the future. Toto has been clear recently, which is a positive thing, and I think the team is working well as it is. George and I are trying to work together to get the best performance".
The focus of the Italian driver is divided between the present needs and the certainty of a 2026 still with Mercedes:
"There’s a really positive atmosphere in the team. It’s always nice to go back to the factory and see how much the team is pushing, not just for this year, but also looking ahead to 2026. There’s a good dynamic within the team, and I’m sure the team is working in the best possible way for next year".
On Friday, August 1, 2025, in the hours prior to the session getting underway, Aston Martin announces that Fernando Alonso misses FP1 due to a muscular injury in his back, meaning that test and reserve driver Felipe Drugovich takes his place. Further updates on Alonso’s participation for the rest of the weekend are set to follow in due course. Elsewhere, Paul Aron is in action at the wheel of Nico Hulkenberg’s Kick Sauber, with the Estonian making his second rookie driver appearance for the team after a previous outing at Silverstone. Lewis Hamilton - a record eight-time winner at the Hungaroring - is the first to hit the track when the green light appears, the Ferrari man leading the way during a busy start to the hour. While eight drivers bolt on the hard tyres, the majority run the mediums for their early laps. Off the back of a points result last time out in Belgium, there seems to be an issue for Pierre Gasly shortly into FP1, the French driver reporting no power in his Alpine before returning to the pits to have the problem investigated. Norris sets the pace during the opening segment of the session from Leclerc, with the other McLaren of Piastri - who claimed his first Grand Prix win at this circuit 12 months ago - following in third. Norris’ effort of 1'17"631 puts him one second clear of Hamilton in P8 on the timesheets, leading the seven-time World Champion to ask his race engineer where he loses time. The reply is that this happens in Turns 5, 8 and 9. The other Ferrari of Leclerc, meanwhile, displaces Norris at the top shortly afterwards - only for Norris to go even faster by becoming the first to dip below the 1'16"0 barrier, the Briton pumping in a time of 1'16"837.
"The car doesn’t feel good".
Hamilton reports as he returns to the garage towards the halfway point of the session amid a quiet spell out on track, with just the Racing Bulls and Gasly - whose earlier issue has seemingly been resolved - putting some mileage in. Aron, meanwhile, sees his running come to a halt after heading out again, having pulled off the track with a technical issue on the Kick Sauber. The incident triggers the yellow flags and a Virtual Safety Car as the C45 is pushed through the nearby barriers. As the session moves into its latter stages, focus for most switches to the soft tyre runs. Norris puts in an eye-catching lap of 1'16"052, a whopping seven-tenths clear of previous pacesetter Leclerc. Piastri goes fastest of all in the first sector, but ends the lap 0.142s adrift of his teammate. Another try for Piastri moves him closer to the other McLaren, the gap dropping to just 0.019s. Amid a busy final 10 minutes - which sees several drivers experience lock-ups before most of the field switches to medium-shod runs - that time for Norris keeps him on top from Piastri and Leclerc. Isack Hadjar is a notable fourth for Racing Bulls, just ahead of Hamilton in fifth, while Haas’ Ollie Bearman places sixth. The Mercedes pair of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell - on a weekend in which the team is reverting to a previous suspension - are seventh and eighth, with Max Verstappen in the Red Bull and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll completing the top 10. By now, without hypocrisy, even the direct participants are admitting it: the battle for the World Championship title is an internal matter within the McLaren team, with only Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris as the main protagonists. This situation can only please the team principal of the Woking team, Andrea Stella. However, while the British team is almost certain to win both World Championship titles for the first time since 1998, the Italian engineer's mission is to manage the internal challenge in such a way that it doesn't ruin the atmosphere that has been painstakingly built over the last few years. Speaking at a press conference in Budapest, on the eve of the crucial weekend of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the McLaren team principal congratulated his drivers, acknowledging that as the final race in Abu Dhabi approaches, the tension between the two young talents of the British team is inevitably bound to rise:
"There could be a natural increase in pressure in the battle between Piastri and Norris, because the remaining races are fewer. However, I believe we've created a solid approach, to which both drivers have actively contributed. The relationship between Lando and Oscar continues to improve because we’ve invested in it. I’m fortunate, because both drivers understand that the interest in the present should not come at the expense of the future, both of their careers and of the team".
When the World Championship is decided within a single team, it is inevitable that a key element is reliability, as the competing cars are identical. For Stella, avoiding technical issues is a priority:
"Our task is to consistently provide them with a car capable of winning. We also don’t want any reliability issues".
It is, of course, impossible for the team’s top official to pick a favorite:
"Norris has more experience, but one of Oscar’s qualities is that he learns quickly. They are racing at a similar level. The initial version of the car influenced Lando’s driving style a bit, but now they are on different setups".
Held in partly cloudy but warm conditions, FP2 offers drivers another chance to get a feel for the revamped Hungaroring circuit and fine-tune their set-ups, with cars quick to head out when the green light switches on at the end of the pit lane at 5:00 p.m. local time. That flurry includes Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who sits out FP1 to nurse a muscular injury in his back, and Gabriel Bortoleto, who gives his Kick Sauber car to Paul Aron for the former F2 racer’s second Friday on loan from Alpine. It does not take long for the first talking point to emerge, with Nico Hulkenberg running wide at Turn 12 and flicking some gravel onto the track - Haas driver Esteban Ocon and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto both ask their teams to check for potential damage after running through it. There is also an early moment for Piastri at Turn 4, where the McLaren challenger steps out during the high-speed entry, while George Russell and Ollie Bearman get close to each other through Turn 9 as their early running converges. Once all 20 drivers have got laps on the board, Norris holds the provisional P1 spot with a time of 1'16"525 on medium tyres, 0.172s clear of championship-leading team mate Piastri, and almost half a second faster than Leclerc’s Ferrari. Further back, Red Bull are enduring a difficult start to the session, with Yuki Tsunoda reporting over the radio that the balance is so messy and Verstappen lamenting problems at the front and rear - adding that:
"it’s like driving on ice".
As the halfway mark approaches, teams gradually swap their medium and hard rubber for softs to get some Qualifying simulations in, bringing another wave of purple and green sector times and giving a hint at what’s to come on Saturday afternoon. McLaren maintains their superiority across this phase, thanks to Norris producing a 1'15"624 and Piastri clocking a 1'15"915 - despite the former backing out of his first lap with a wide moment at Turn 2 and later going off at the final corner, and Piastri hitting a bunch of traffic. Aston Martin drivers Lance Stroll and Alonso pull out impressive-looking laps to end the session in fourth and fifth respectively, just behind Leclerc, while the other Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton rounds out the top-six places. Russell is the fastest Mercedes driver in seventh, followed by Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar and Tsunoda, with team mate Kimi Antonelli completing the top-10 over Haas pair Bearman and Ocon and Hulkenberg’s Sauber. The comparison is always between the two of them: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The two McLaren drivers, who are in full battle for the World Championship title, dominated the standings in the first two Free Practice sessions of the Hungarian Grand Prix. In both sessions, Norris claimed first place, looking to avenge the defeat he suffered at the hands of his teammate in Belgium.
"The car felt great in the first few laps. All my laps were good. The second session was a bit more confusing, I made a few more mistakes, but testing is also for finding the limits. We had a good understanding, and I know what I want from the car. Maybe it will be harder to extract it".
When asked about his pole position in 2024 (which was not converted into a win) and the possibility of repeating it this year, Norris responds:
"I think I have a better car compared to last year, so I have more chances. But the competition is also strong. I have a good sense of what we need from the car, so we will work on that overnight and make sure we're in the best possible position for tomorrow's qualifying".
The first two Free Practice sessions of the Hungarian Grand Prix confirmed McLaren's golden moment, dominating this first half of the season with both drivers. In both FP1 and FP2, Lando Norris set the fastest lap, followed by Oscar Piastri. In 2024, Piastri won his first F1 race at the Hungaroring circuit, where today he almost had a contact with his teammate, but still reiterated his positive feelings ahead of Qualifying:
"It was a good Friday, our competitiveness looked strong. We need to fix a few things overnight, but overall it was a solid first day. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow".
Positive feelings that contrast with the need for improvements:
"We had to change a few things to make the car a bit better, but then the performance was really good. I'm quite happy, but we need to fix a few things because we weren't very precise in FP2, but the pace was very good, so we’re optimistic".
Max Verstappen announced his commitment to Red Bull Racing at least until the 2026 season, but for now, the awareness of having convinced their star driver to stay for another year hasn't been enough for the Austrian-English team to improve the performance of the RB21, which seems to be increasingly struggling. Over the radio, the Dutch driver continuously complained about the poor feeling and lack of balance in his car. These comments also emerged in the traditional end-of-day interviews, where Verstappen did not hide the difficulties faced on track:
"Today was very difficult. We had neither grip nor balance in the car, nothing was working. We’ll have to check where the problem came from, because I think we can improve. But today wasn’t good at all".
Meanwhile, Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari's team principal fresh off his contract renewal, appeared moderately satisfied after the conclusion of FP2 of the Hungarian GP. At the Hungaroring, Ferrari, especially with Charles Leclerc, showed that they are the second-best team in the field, behind an almost unreachable McLaren but well ahead of Mercedes and Red Bull Racing.
"Leclerc was consistent in both FP1 and FP2, and also in the race simulation, he went well. But it’s only Friday, we don’t know how much fuel the others had and what engine map they were using. We’ll have a better idea tomorrow in qualifying. But for now, we’re closer to McLaren and ahead of Red Bull and Mercedes. Hamilton? He’s trying to optimize the balance, but he had a good pace. He did a race simulation with the softs, and it was a good test for both us and him".
Just like at Silverstone and Spa, the risk for the race is the possible bad weather:
"Rain? The weather forecasts have been a nightmare in the last four GPs. It’s always been in between dry and rain, but now it seems like it's leaning more towards dry".
Overall, it cannot be denied that Ferrari is going through a phase of growth, aided by the introduction of the new rear suspension:
"We made good progress at Spa, even though we’re still in the early stages of using this new rear suspension, but there’s been a step forward. The battle is tight, we're talking tenths. Just making a mistake on the out-lap preparation and you lose three positions, ending up behind Mercedes and Red Bull. Can McLaren be beaten? Yes, it’s always possible. We tend to be better in the race than in qualifying, but today the race simulation pace was good. However, in Budapest, you need to start at the front".
Charles Leclerc was the best non-McLaren driver in both FP1 and FP2. Frederic Vasseur had anticipated expecting a competitive car in Hungary, and so it proved, considering the huge difficulties encountered by Max Verstappen, for example. At the end of the sessions, Charles Leclerc shared his thoughts on the current performance on track:
"We completed the planned program in both sessions. McLaren seems to have a good advantage over us, but we’ll stay focused on our work and try to turn things around tomorrow. I don’t think there’s much more I can do on my side, so it will be important to replicate today’s performance".
Lewis Hamilton finished the Hungarian FP sessions in sixth position, 0.3s behind Charles Leclerc. The two Ferrari drivers did long runs, with Hamilton on Soft tires and Leclerc on Mediums. At the end of the sessions, the British driver commented:
"We completed the planned program, making several changes to improve the balance. I’m still looking for the right grip, but we’re heading in the right direction. There’s definitely more potential to find ahead of qualifying. The long runs showed higher tire degradation compared to recent races, so we’ll have work to do overnight. We have a lot of data to analyze and I’m looking forward to getting back on track tomorrow".
Only 0.1s separated George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the end of FP2 in Hungary. Mercedes seems to have taken a technical step backward to give its drivers the confidence lost in recent races. In this regard, the British driver said:
"Today was a strange day. Even though we expected to see McLaren strong, there were a few surprises on the timing boards. Aston Martin seemed to have good pace on the single lap, and several other cars looked competitive in the long run. Our goal was still to focus on ourselves. We reintroduced our previous rear suspension specifications to find more stability in the car. We didn’t expect a huge step forward, but overall the car was more enjoyable to drive and gave me more confidence. It was a positive Friday, and now we’ll keep working through the weekend to ensure a solid result on Sunday".
Meanwhile, Andrea Kimi Antonelli concluded by saying:
"I’m quite happy after today’s sessions. The car gave me more confidence compared to recent races, and I feel I managed to improve my lap times. We’re still a bit off the pace compared to the front runners, but hopefully, this is a good base to build on. In my best lap, with low fuel, I encountered a lot of traffic, so we could have had better times. The long run seemed competitive, so I’m definitely optimistic for the weekend. That said, Friday doesn’t count for much. We know how important track position is here, so we’ll have to do a good job in qualifying tomorrow afternoon. We’ll need to give our best to have a good chance of scoring important points on Sunday because the grid is really tight".
Over the radio, Max Verstappen was adamant during the long run, calling the behavior of the RB21 critically poor:
"The car is undriveable".
Earlier, the Dutch driver, when questioned about the balance of his car, told Gianpiero Lambiase that it felt like driving on ice. Yuki Tsunoda was faster in FP2 and said that, from his perspective, grip was lacking. Technical Director Pierre Waché admitted that all the experiments tried by Red Bull Racing during the first two Free Practice sessions didn’t work:
"It was a very difficult day for us. The car isn’t behaving as we had expected. We tested some things during both sessions today, but nothing is responding as we thought. At the moment, we’re not competitive enough, so there’s a lot of work to do ahead of Qualifying. Hopefully, we’ll find some good solutions".
On Saturday, August 2, 2025, they quickly return to the pits without completing a full timed lap, paving the way for a somewhat slow start to the hour - it isn’t until the 45-minute mark that the Qualifying preparations properly kick off. Yuki Tsunoda, whose Red Bull has flow-viz paint around the diffuser, initially goes fastest on a set of medium tyres before he is heard complaining over the radio about oversteer. His teammate Max Verstappen, who struggles in Friday's running, then sets a benchmark of 1'16"547 on softs but this is rapidly displaced by George Russell and Charles Leclerc. As expected, the top three is shaken up once the McLarens return to set their own competitive times with Piastri snatching the top spot, albeit around six-tenths slower than Norris’ effort in yesterday’s FP2 session. The Briton, meanwhile, can only manage P5 on his first attempt. Soon after, Ferrari’s Leclerc is on a flying lap and is purple in sectors one and two, but an error at Turn 12 sees him dip his left rear wheel in the gravel trap and lose a small amount of time - it is nevertheless still quick enough for P1, before Piastri goes clear by 0.266s. Further down the order, Kick Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto continues his superb recent form over one lap as he settles into sixth position, just under four-tenths adrift of the Australian’s fastest time in the McLaren. It is a different story for fellow midfield driver Alex Albon who, at the halfway point of the hour, finds himself at the bottom of the timesheets and advises his team to check the floor after he rattles over the kerbs. As the clock ticks down, some teams elect to carry out long runs on the medium tyres rather than continuing their Qualifying simulations, causing some traffic issues for those still on fast single laps - Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar directly picks out Norris and claims that he doesn’t know how to let by someone. The track clears as many drivers reset ahead of their final laps, allowing Piastri to make the most of the clear air and break into the 1'14"0. His teammate then finds a remarkable amount of time in the last sector and ends just 0.032s slower than Piastri’s lap. Others’ push laps don’t quite go to plan - Hadjar spins into a run-off area and momentarily brings out the yellow flags, and Verstappen reports:
"You try to fix the rear and it ploughs into understeer".
Echoing a struggle shared by many of the drivers. A much-improved Lewis Hamilton finishes the session in fourth, with Kimi Antonelli and Fernando Alonso, who bounces back from a back injury earlier in the weekend, claiming the rest of the top-six positions.
Following Norris' clean sweep on Friday and Piastri’s strong start on Saturday, attention soon turns to Qualifying, which begins under overcast skies but with air and track temperatures remaining high - and rain crucially staying away for the time being. The entire field unsurprisingly bolts on the soft tyres for the opening Q1 runs, which brings the first moment of drama when Sainz locks up heavily under braking for Turn 1 and has to navigate the rest of his lap with flat-spotted tyres. Once every driver puts a banker on the board, Piastri sits at the top of the timesheets with a 1'15"554, despite running over the gravel at the exit of Turn 12, with Russell and Antonelli following in their Mercedes cars from Norris, Hamilton, and Alonso. At the other end of the order, Sainz is in the drop zone after that compromised opener, along with Tsunoda, Gasly, and Haas duo Bearman and Ocon - while Verstappen is only just above the cut mark in 13th amid ongoing struggles for Red Bull. Aston Martin is first to make a move in the closing minutes, leading to a new P1 time from Alonso on a 1'15"281 and a rise to P4 for Stroll, before their rivals return to the track and set about finding gains - Ocon reporting that a screw is stuck on his tyre. A flurry of green and purple sector times ends with Piastri reclaiming the top spot via a 1'15"211, from Alonso, a similarly high-flying Hadjar, and Norris, with Leclerc keeping his cool amid some late pressure to rise from the drop zone all the way up to fifth place. While Sainz and Bearman get themselves out of danger with their final laps to the chequered flag, the same cannot be said for Tsunoda, Gasly, and Ocon, who all fall at the first Qualifying hurdle alongside Hulkenberg and Albon. After the segment, which also sees Bortoleto catch the eye in sixth, and Verstappen make it through in a low-key 11th, Antonelli and Russell are both noted for potentially failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions regarding maximum delta time. In the break between Q1 and Q2, which features an extra couple of minutes to allow marshals to clear loose gravel at Turn 12, the clouds appear to grow darker and, by the time the green light switches on at the end of the pit lane, spots of rain arrive.
"Expect the best conditions at the end of the session".
Verstappen is told by his engineer, as the remaining 15 drivers push to get some initial Q2 times on the board with soft tyres - Norris going quickest on a 1'14"890 from Piastri, Alonso, Stroll, Hadjar, and Bearman. Russell, the aforementioned Verstappen, Lawson, and Leclerc hold the final top-10 spots after those runs, leaving Hamilton, Sainz, Bortoleto, Antonelli, and Colapinto - who has a lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 9 - with work to do. Across those second runs, which again see Alonso and Stroll go early and involve a massive queue between their rivals to get out of the pits, there are some big disappointments on the cards as both Hamilton and Antonelli miss the Q3 cut.
"Every time, every time".
Laments 12th-placed Hamilton over the radio, with Antonelli similarly dejected after winding up 11th but then falling to 15th due to a track limits violation. Bearman, Sainz, and Colapinto are the other three drivers to drop out. Norris remains fastest from Piastri despite neither of the McLaren drivers improving, from Stroll, Russell, Alonso, and Leclerc, while Verstappen squeezes through to Q3 in eighth around the Racing Bulls of Hadjar and Lawson and Bortoleto. With further rain continuing to hold off, but temperatures dropping slightly and wind levels rising, Piastri lands the first blow of the pole position shootout by clocking a 1'15"398 - putting him just under a tenth clear of teammate Norris. Russell and Mercedes also appear more competitive in the cooler conditions, going third over Alonso, Verstappen, Leclerc, Lawson, and Bortoleto, while Stroll loses a time for exceeding track limits and Hadjar bides his time in the garage. Aston Martin once again leaves the pit lane early for their final runs, with Alonso shooting to P2 (just 0.083s behind provisional polesitter Piastri) and Stroll moving up to fourth. Leclerc answers that spectacularly by brilliantly stringing his three sectors together to clock a 1'15"372 - denying both Piastri and Norris and leaving him speechless over the radio as he returns to the pit lane to celebrate Ferrari’s first pole of 2025. Russell books a spot on the second row in fourth (both the Briton and teammate Antonelli being cleared over their delta time investigation), followed by the rapid Aston Martins of Alonso and Stroll, Bortoleto’s Sauber, Verstappen’s Red Bull, and the two Racing Bulls of Lawson and Hadjar.
Charles Leclerc missed out on pole position in Monaco, where it seemed possible to achieve it. Instead, he managed to secure it in Hungary, when no one, including himself, would have bet on it after a session spent with the anxiety of elimination in both Q1 and Q2. Charles Leclerc claimed a stunning pole position in Hungary: the McLarens seemed unreachable, but the changing weather conditions altered the outcome, and in the end, four drivers were covered by just 0.053 seconds.
"I don’t understand anything about F1. It was a very complicated qualifying session where I had to struggle to avoid elimination in Q1 and Q2. I have a car that’s a bit lacking in aerodynamic downforce. In Q3, I knew it was important to do a clean lap, and I did it, but I thought it would be enough for third place, and instead, here’s pole position, definitely the most unexpected one ever. Tomorrow, at the start and in the first few corners, I’ll give it everything to keep the first position, which would make life much easier for the rest of the race”.
In particular, in Q2, on his decisive lap, Leclerc had to fight to manage a oversteer coming out of Turn 4. A failure to respect track limits or a bigger mistake could have led to elimination. The Monegasque driver not only avoided that disappointment, but then gave Ferrari an unexpected euphoria heading into a race that could provide the Maranello team with a great satisfaction before the summer break. The team principal of Scuderia Ferrari, Frederic Vasseur, added:
"We weren’t far from a double elimination in Q2. Leclerc was very good at getting the tires into the right operating window, and then came a pole that was definitely unexpected and difficult because we struggled throughout the session, as shown by Hamilton's elimination, who missed out by just a few thousandths. You never know how to approach the out-lap because the track conditions are constantly changing. Hamilton wasn’t the only one with highs and lows, Antonelli was also excluded when he seemed to have good pace. If you get the tires up to temperature at the beginning of the lap, maybe you’ll run out of tire by the end, but if you don’t get the tire going right away, it will slip, and you risk ruining the lap. We have to learn and take advantage of what happened today for the next qualifying sessions, as you can see, the limit between elimination and advancing to the next round is always very marginal".
Vasseur just officially confirmed a multi-year extension with Ferrari, but regarding whether today’s result is unquestionably a good gift, the Frenchman says:
"Let’s wait for tomorrow”.
The opportunity is tempting, and Vasseur isn’t afraid of McLaren on race pace:
"In the long run of FP2, we were in line with McLaren’s times".
On the one hand, Ferrari celebrates an unpredictable and surprising pole position. But on the other hand, some are questioning a disappointing result beyond the most pessimistic expectations. Lewis Hamilton has lost his magic touch, even though the updated rear suspension was supposed to help him. Even though the Hungaroring circuit is historically one where he has always gone strong, and even though, conversely, it’s one of the worst tracks for teammate Charles Leclerc. What’s certain is that the incredible pole he claimed in 2023 with Mercedes feels like a distant memory of better days gone by, even for Hamilton himself, who appeared visibly frustrated and even demotivated in the interview zone after the Hungarian GP qualifying session in 2025. The British driver initially explains, in monosyllables, what he meant when, at the end of Q2, after being eliminated, he radioed:
"It's always the same thing".
Almost alluding to a problem with the car:
"No, I was just referring to myself. What’s missing for me to go to the limit like Leclerc? I don’t know, I’m asking myself the same question. I don’t have an answer".
Pretty strong words in their simple frankness, which carry even more meaning when translated into other international media, during the post-qualifying interviews:
"What happened in Q2? I didn’t have any issues, I’m just useless. I drove terribly. My feelings? To be polite, I’d say they’re pretty bad. It’s always my fault, I’m useless, and the team has no issues. The second car is on pole, so maybe they should just change drivers”.
Final note, on his chances of making a comeback as he did just a few days earlier in Spa:
"Can I repeat it? No, I don’t think so”.
There seemed to be no chance for the competitors. Norris and Piastri appeared destined for a battle for the pole, separated by milliseconds, and that’s how it went, but Charles Leclerc beat both of them, putting the SF-25 in pole position for the first time this season. Piastri beat Norris by 0.015 seconds but came 0.026 seconds short of Leclerc. The Australian driver pointed out that it won't be easy for McLaren to beat Leclerc:
"The wind changed everything. I thought I had done a good lap on the second run, but it wasn’t enough. On the first run, I had used the Q2 references, but the wind changed by 180°, and all the corners felt different. It won’t be easy to beat Leclerc because on race pace, he’s very close to us in terms of performance. On a single lap, on paper, he was further behind, but today he did a better job than us. The best place to pass him? The pit lane”.
So Piastri, rather than at the start, hopes to change the outcome of the race during the pit stops, which will likely be two. Lando Norris, who set the third-fastest time, spoke to the media about his expectations for the race. The English driver, currently second in the World Drivers’ Championship, acknowledged that McLaren should have a performance advantage but said that it won’t be easy for Leclerc to hold the first position until the end:
"Tomorrow’s race? It will depend on the weather. In the race, we usually have an advantage. But if there’s anyone who could make life difficult for us tomorrow, it’s Charles. The wind changed a lot, and for some reason, it affected us much more than others, but I don’t know why. We need to understand it. Charles tomorrow is a threat because he wasn’t much slower than us in general. It’s hard to overtake here; you need a big advantage".
The crisis isn’t over, but maybe, at the end of the tunnel, there’s a glimmer of light. Once again, Andrea Kimi Antonelli failed to get his Mercedes into Q3, suffering a bitter elimination in the Hungarian GP qualifying session, placing P15. A double blow for the young Italian, who had actually set a better time and was just 0.006 seconds away from the time set by Gabriel Bortoleto, the last driver to qualify for Q3.
However, his time was canceled due to track limits infringement. At the end of qualifying, Antonelli explained what happened in Q2, including a slide at the start of the last lap that cost him a top-10 position:
"The first lap was wet. In Sector 2, especially in the chicane, the track was quite wet. So the first attempt went like that. Then, with the new tire, I didn’t have grip. I don’t know why, but I lost the rear as I went on the throttle out of Turn 1, and from there it just went downhill. I don’t know what to say, honestly, because the feeling was much better, but once again, something went wrong. As a team, we had a meeting and saw that with the old suspension, both George and I felt better. So it was a decision we made as a team. It’s a shame we didn’t go back to the old suspension earlier, because today, this weekend, I felt much more confident in the car than before. It’s a shame, because today the result could have been much better".
On the other hand, George Russell, who narrowly missed out on pole position, set the fourth-fastest time, just 0.053 seconds behind pole:
"Q3 was a mess. We were the ones who made the smallest step back compared to Q2: I was just a tenth slower than in Q2, while Charles was two tenths slower, Fernando was two tenths slower, and McLaren was six tenths slower. So, I’m not too carried away by the Q3 performances because the rest of the weekend wasn’t easy. Even Kimi got eliminated in Q2. Pole lost in Turn 14? Yeah, I think so. That’s where I lost 0.3 seconds".
Max Verstappen analyzes the result of Hungarian GP Qualifying, where he made it to Q3 but finished in eighth place, saying:
"I’ve been more outside than inside the top 10 this weekend, so in the end I have to be satisfied".
The Dutch driver will start alongside his friend Gabriel Bortoleto, who edged him out by just 0.003 seconds, putting his Sauber ahead of the Red Bull Racing. Verstappen isn’t expecting a spectacular comeback in the race, especially since he’ll also have to keep an eye on those behind:
"There are three cars ahead that I can fight with, but Hamilton will also be coming from behind because he shouldn’t be starting back there".
Verstappen emphasizes that Red Bull Racing’s goal now is simply to have a few good weekends from now until Abu Dhabi, without any major ambitions:
"We’re no longer fighting for the championship, and we’ll try to be competitive wherever we can be. I expected us to struggle here, but definitely not to this extent. A year ago, we were just a few hundredths off pole position, but this year, from the very first lap, we’ve been out of the game with no grip - neither front nor rear. Is this the worst weekend since I started racing with Red Bull Racing? We’ve had disastrous weekends in Singapore as well".
After the dust settles amid a surprise ending to Saturday’s Qualifying at the Hungaroring - with Leclerc outpacing the McLaren duo to grab an unexpected pole position - attention shifts to Sunday’s 70-lap Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before F1’s traditional summer break. In the wake of that eventful grid-deciding session, one change is made to the starting order during the build-up to race day: it is confirmed that Tsunoda must start from the pit lane, due to Red Bull replacing power unit elements in his car and changing the brake cooling configuration under parc ferme conditions. While rain falls in Budapest earlier on Sunday, the drivers are greeted by dry, gusty, and slightly cooler conditions as the start time nears, with a 20 per cent chance of rainfall predicted during the race. When the tyre blankets come off and the cars assemble on the grid for the anticipated two-stop event, it’s revealed that most of the field starts on the medium compound, with exceptions being Sainz, Hulkenberg, and Albon on softs, and Hamilton and Gasly on hards. Once the formation lap is completed and the lights go out, Leclerc gets a good launch off the line and holds the lead into Turn 1, while Norris attempts to move down the inside of Piastri but brakes early, allowing Russell to slip through into third. Norris faces further trouble as Alonso soon snatches P4, pushing the Briton down to fifth. Elsewhere, Verstappen loses a place to former teammate Lawson - only to retake it later in the lap - while Stroll drops back to seventh. By Lap 3, Norris sweeps past Alonso on the main straight to reclaim fourth. Verstappen is also on the move, overtaking Stroll for P7 and starting to chase down Bortoleto for sixth - a driver noted by Race Control for a potential false start. Hulkenberg is the first to pit on Lap 6, swapping his soft tyres for mediums. Like his teammate, he is also noted for a possible false start. Up front, Leclerc builds a lead of nearly three seconds from Piastri. Norris tries to catch Russell for fourth while Alonso leads a DRS train in fifth. Hadjar - who earlier lost a place to Bearman - reports discomfort after his hand is hit by gravel flicked up during the opening lap. Bad news arrives for Hulkenberg, who receives a five-second penalty for that false start, while no further action is taken regarding Bortoleto. Strategic questions begin to arise around Lap 10, with Piastri asked about the possibility of a one-stop race. The Australian driver responds:
"Difficult to know with so many laps to go".
Norris is told he needs to get past Russell, having become stuck behind the Mercedes. Hamilton is also struggling to overtake, battling Antonelli for 13th. By Lap 15, Leclerc leads Piastri by just over three seconds, with others like Colapinto, Albon, and Ocon beginning their stops. Sainz switches from softs to hards, but the frontrunners stay out. Piastri is encouraged to push and starts closing in on Leclerc, the gap down to 2.3s by Lap 18. On that same lap, Verstappen becomes the first top-10 driver to pit, emerging on hard tyres to undercut Alonso and Bortoleto. Piastri also tries the undercut, having been told box to overtake Leclerc. He rejoins between Alonso and Bortoleto. Leclerc pits shortly after for hards and returns to track still ahead of Piastri, who appears unable to warm up his tyres quickly enough. McLaren warns that Leclerc may face the same issue on his out-lap. Norris inherits the lead by staying out, while Piastri overtakes the yet-to-pit Alonso for P3. Norris faces strategic questions and is asked about Plan A and Plan B. Alonso, still on his starting mediums, loses P4 to Russell on Lap 26. Verstappen, who stopped early, reports his strategy is a really terrible idea, stuck in traffic since pitting. Verstappen sets off after Hamilton for 11th, while Piastri questions whether a one-stop strategy could work. He’s told it might be difficult. Norris is also asked his view on a one-stop and replies,
"Yeah, why not".
Leclerc cryptically says:
"I can feel what we discussed before the race".
Suggesting the issue could cost Ferrari the race. With 40 laps to go, he leads Piastri by 1.6s. Further back, Verstappen dives down the inside of Hamilton into Turn 4 to take P11, while Hamilton goes wide - an incident noted by Race Control. Norris pits on Lap 32 for hards, a quick 1.9s stop bringing him back out in P4 ahead of Alonso. At halfway, Leclerc leads Piastri by just under two seconds. Russell runs third, eight seconds ahead of Norris. Alonso, Bortoleto, Stroll, and Lawson still haven’t pitted. Verstappen and Hamilton round out the top 10. Stroll pits on Lap 37 for hards. Norris looks quick and pushes hard to close the gap to the leaders, reducing it to 13.9s by Lap 40. Leclerc pits for another set of hards, rejoining in fourth, seven seconds behind Norris. Piastri takes the lead and is told to push. He now leads Russell by 9.2s. The Verstappen-Hamilton incident is set to be reviewed post-race, while Verstappen, now P5, is informed Red Bull is considering a one-stop.
"It’s not going to be easy".
Verstappen says. Russell pits for hards and rejoins in fourth, promoting Norris to second, 8.7s behind Piastri. On Lap 46, Piastri pits and rejoins in third, five seconds behind Leclerc and 12s off leader Norris. As the final 20 laps approach, Verstappen pits from mediums to hards and rejoins in P9 just ahead of Antonelli. Piastri catches Leclerc and overtakes into Turn 1 to take P2. Bearman retires with a broken car after struggling for grip. Leclerc complains about his SF-25 being undriveable and says a podium would be a miracle. Russell closes the gap to Leclerc to 3.1s with 15 laps to go. Up front, Piastri cuts the gap to Norris to 3.3s by Lap 60. Russell is now just tenths behind Leclerc in the fight for third. He tries a move into Turn 1, but Leclerc covers.
"That was moving under braking".
Russell complains, but stays cool and tries again next lap - this time making it stick. The stewards investigate Leclerc’s defending, and also a Turn 2 collision between Gasly and Sainz, which results in a 10-second penalty for Gasly. With six laps to go, Piastri is just 1.2s behind Norris, who is lapping Hamilton, Hadjar, and Antonelli. After clearing traffic, the gap drops to 0.6s with two laps remaining. Piastri attempts a late lunge on Lap 69, locks up, and just misses Norris.
"Remember how we go racing".
On the final lap, Piastri is too far back to make another move, and Norris crosses the line to take victory by 0.698s, cutting Piastri’s lead in the World Championship down to just nine points. Russell completes the podium in third. Leclerc holds onto fourth despite receiving a five-second penalty for erratic driving. Alonso scores a season-best fifth, with Bortoleto - managed by Alonso - in sixth. Stroll brings home P7 for Aston Martin. Lawson, Verstappen, and Antonelli complete the top 10. Verstappen still faces a post-race visit to the stewards for the earlier incident with Hamilton. Lando Norris is enjoying himself, and it couldn't be otherwise. The victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, especially right before the summer break, is a big achievement for him: the gap in the standings to Oscar Piastri has been reduced to just 9 points, and recovering ground on his teammate after the nightmare first lap the British driver experienced seemed impossible. Starting from third on the grid, the McLaren driver found himself in fifth place by turn 1. However, what seemed like it would crush the Englishman's chances of success turned out to be an unexpected advantage. Norris, with nothing left to lose, opted for a one-stop strategy, while Oscar Piastri was following the evolving strategies of Charles Leclerc and George Russell and found himself forced into making a double pit stop.
"It was tough, we hadn’t planned for the single stop strategy at the beginning, but after the first lap, it was our only chance to get back into the race. I was pushing to the maximum; this is the perfect result today. I didn’t think we would win, but I believed we could finish second because I knew the pace was good. A strategy like that is always a bit of a gamble, it requires good laps and no mistakes. We are both fighting hard. It’s tough, but fun racing with Oscar".
Later, Lando Norris claims his skill in tire management. A quality in which he suggested he feels stronger than Oscar Piastri:
"That's my strong point. At the start of the first stint, we decided to go long to have a chance. In this case, it was one of my best races. Even today, like on other occasions, I think race management was my strength. How confident am I going into the break? With the same confidence I had before: I have good self-confidence. Nothing more, nothing less. I have to work hard because it’s a tough challenge. But I think I can do it".
In 2024, in Hungary, Oscar Piastri claimed his first Formula 1 victory, at the end of a rather controversial race in which the Australian driver crossed the finish line just ahead of Lando Norris. One year later, the positions were reversed, with the World Championship leader forced to give up due to the winning strategy by Lando Norris’ team, who, after finding himself in P5 at the first corner, decided to go for a one-stop strategy, catching all the other contenders for the win by surprise. In his final stint, Piastri tried to complete the comeback and even attempted a desperate overtake on his teammate, but in the end, it was the British driver who stepped onto the top step of the podium, now reducing the points gap to his teammate to just 9 points in the standings. After the race, Oscar Piastri expressed his regret for the missed victory:
"I pushed to the limit. When I saw that Lando was taking the lead, I realized I would have to overtake him on track - which is easier said than done around here. Today, we were simply on the wrong side of things. Norris’s strategy? He didn’t have much to lose, so it wasn’t a big surprise. I don’t know whether in the end trying to cover Leclerc was the right choice. Am I angry about the result? No, but I think there’s always a bit of frustration when you lose a race, especially by such a small margin. But it was a great fight. There are some things we need to review together with the team. Let’s say it’s a bittersweet result, because it was a fun race, but when you lose by so little, there’s some frustration in the end".
Perfect start, two undercut attempts by Piastri denied, then the collapse: Charles Leclerc seemed able to manage the double attack by the McLarens, but from lap 40, the Monegasque driver’s race changed. A chassis problem gradually cost Leclerc time, until he finished fourth behind George Russell, against whom the Ferrari driver strongly defended his position under braking, receiving a 5-second penalty (ultimately irrelevant). Over the radio at the beginning of the race, Leclerc had complained about power cuts from the engine, and later another issue angered him regarding race management. However, the Ferrari driver later explained that he now had a clearer picture in light of the major issue that emerged:
"I didn’t have all the information; now I do. We had a chassis problem around lap 40. From that moment on, I was a passenger - nothing I could do. There was a lot of frustration in the car. I thought it was due to a decision we had made, but it turned out to be a technical problem. I’m disappointed and frustrated because it was a great opportunity to win - maybe the only one of the year - and until lap 40 we were fully in the race, and I had the pace to stay ahead. In the last 35 laps, I lost 45 seconds. But that’s racing. I was very angry, but now I understand what happened. These are things you can’t predict. Positives? There are definitely some, but right now I’m too disappointed to focus on them – and I think that’s normal".
Though not reaching the level of his post-qualifying comments, which were in many ways historic and likely to define this season, Lewis Hamilton’s race in the SF-25 was certainly not a positive one. The British driver finished the Hungarian GP in P12, on the Budapest track that has always historically been one of his strongholds: it was in fact Hamilton’s worst-ever result at the Hungaroring, where until now he had always finished in the top six in all 19 editions of the Hungarian GP he had competed in - except for his retirement in 2010. A disappointing day in a disappointing period, which this time seemed to leave the British driver speechless:
"Frustrating race? Meh, no, I never really felt frustrated. But there wasn’t much more I could do. Different expectations compared to the beginning of the season? No, I wasn’t expecting anything. I had no expectations, even though this has gone worse than any other season in my career".
Hamilton then briefly commented again, in the same tone, on the words he spoke after qualifying, when he had said he was useless and suggested that Ferrari should replace him:
"When you have a feeling, it’s still a feeling. There’s a lot going on in the background, which isn’t great. Have I lost the will to drive? No, no - I still love racing".
Finally, the British driver also spoke about the incident involving Max Verstappen, who was later summoned by the stewards after the race:
"I don’t remember much, to be honest, about what happened. I know I saw him at the last moment - he was very close to my left rear tyre - so I just tried to avoid a crash".
After a disappointing P12 in qualifying, the team had planned an alternative strategy for Lewis Hamilton. The British driver started on the hard compound tyre, hoping to delay his pit stop and gain positions. But a difficult start and the usual DRS trains compromised his race. At the end, Hamilton apologized via radio for the poor result and for the points lost in the Constructors’ Championship. On this, Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur said:
"We knew his start would be tough with those tyres, and then he got stuck in a DRS train. We gambled on a one-stop strategy to get back into the points, but it was just a weekend to forget".
Vasseur was then asked to comment on Hamilton’s harsh post-qualifying words. The Ferrari team principal played them down, saying:
"I understand that yesterday Lewis was very demanding with the team, with the car, with me – and also with himself. That’s the mindset of a seven-time World Champion".
It was, in any case, a Sunday to forget for Scuderia Ferrari. In Hungary, something didn’t work on Charles Leclerc’s car. Ferrari explained the drop in performance by pointing to a chassis problem. But is that really the case? In the meantime, Vasseur said:
"In the first two stints we were in control. There was pressure, yes, but we managed to hold the lead. In the last stint, we had a two-second gap, and that’s disappointing because everything had gone well until then. Charles had a great first part of the race; we expected to do a much better job overall. There was a problem with the chassis, which started in the third stint. In the first part of the race, I think we were on McLaren’s level - it was the first time we matched them in terms of pace; and we had a good gap to Russell in the first 40 laps, at one point even 15 seconds. Then we lost everything: if you’re losing 2 seconds per lap, you can’t fight, you can’t survive. We have to understand what happened in the last 30 laps".
Starting in P8 and finishing in P9, without managing to pass Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls in the final laps - that’s the summary of Max Verstappen’s nightmare Hungarian GP. To make matters worse, he was called in by the Stewards instead of being able to leave the track immediately. The Dutch driver had fought with Lewis Hamilton, attempting a move on the inside at Turn 5.
The Ferrari driver went wide, and apparently there was no contact between the two. For this reason, Verstappen was summoned by the Stewards:
"They could’ve made the decision during the race - it’s not ideal to go to the Stewards now. I stuck my nose in, and Hamilton got scared and went wide on his own. Am I afraid of a penalty? I don’t care. I finished ninth - whether it’s two points or zero makes no difference".
Charles Leclerc quickly went from fighting for the win to finishing in fourth place. George Russell, who overtook Leclerc, at the end of the race put forward another hypothesis about the drop in the Ferrari driver’s performance:
"I think they were at the limit with floor wear and had to adjust the tyre pressures to raise the car. That’s the only explanation".
When Charles Leclerc was easily overtaken by Oscar Piastri and realized he was about to be passed by George Russell as well, he made a rather agitated and cryptic team radio message:
"It's incredibly frustrating! We've lost all our competitiveness. You should have listened to me, I would have found a way to manage those issues. Now it's just impossible to drive - finishing on the podium would be a miracle".
It was a statement that sounded a bit odd. In any case, Charles Leclerc said at the end of the race:
"First of all, I need to take back what I said on the radio. I thought it was caused by a certain issue, but once I got out of the car I received a lot more details".
Leclerc hinted that the issue he experienced was quite unusual:
"Apparently it wasn’t that clear from the data, but now we can say that it was there. It was a bit complicated - otherwise I would have known because they would have told me".
So, what was the Ferrari driver referring to in that team radio message?
"When I started to feel the problems, I didn’t really know where they were coming from. I thought it was due to an overly aggressive adjustment we had made to the front wing during the pit stop".
The adjustment of tyre pressures was minimally invasive during the first pit stop - when the car still had fuel - but potentially much more significant during the second stop. Ferrari team principal Vasseur stated that the radio conversation with Leclerc referred to a factor that cost 0.1 seconds per lap, while the chassis issue cost Leclerc 2 seconds per lap in the final stint. But - can that really be believed? Changing the subject, it's clear that F1, like all sports, offers immediate opportunities for redemption, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli seized his chance, rising from P15 to P10 in the Hungarian Grand Prix, finally securing his first point of what has been a disastrous European season so far. The Italian driver let out a sigh of relief after the race, which he drove with solidity and intelligence. After gaining two positions at the start, Kimi had stopped quite early and entered the points zone by outsmarting Isack Hadjar, who had started much higher up the grid, with a great undercut. In short, a Grand Prix that can be seen as a new starting point.
"It has definitely been a very intense first part of the season, where at times I really struggled to manage my energy. With the new suspension, I struggled a lot both in terms of sensations and mentally, as I even started doubting myself. But I’m very happy to feel the return of the old suspension feeling again: I consider this a new starting point, a fresh beginning after the summer break".