The SF-23 is a short blanket. As much as they try to compensate for the defects in Maranello, a deficiency always emerges, whether it’s the pace, tire management, excessive sensitivity to the wind and so on. At the end of the seventy laps of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the standings bring Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz back to seventh and eighth position respectively, and the verdict in itself justifies the long faces seen on the Hungarian evening.
However, the timing verdict (that is, the 70-second delay from Verstappen, the 27 from Norris and the 21 from Hamilton) have to be re-calibrated due to two unforeseen events, a problem with a pistol during the first pit-stop, which cost Charles seven seconds, and the five that the Monegasque had to serve for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Without the penalties, Leclerc could have realistically finished his race in fifth place, which is one position higher than the one occupied on the starting grid. Obviously, it would have been better, but certainly not a result in line with expectations on the eve of the weekend.
The biggest problem for Ferrari is putting these verdicts into perspective. At the halfway point of a difficult season, the Scuderia continues to navigate a few races that have sparked hope of a potential second-force role with performances (like the one seen today in Budapest) that make it difficult to imagine a better second round.
Sainz, always very precise in his analyses, explained well the problems he had to face in his race, which began with a great start in which he capitalized on the (appropriate) choice to start with soft tyres. “When we have to face long stints with hard compounds we degrade more than Mercedes, Red Bull and even McLaren, and this is the condition that brings out our weaknesses. In a thirty-lap stint, the problem is the last ten, today we saw that in the end Russell was a second and a half faster, and this gap doesn’t allow us to be able to defend ourselves”.
Leclerc, who throughout the race had problems communicating via radio with his engineer, had to complain at the end of the race with the unexpected events that cost him two positions, but the Monegasque did not fail to underline that it was not all to be thrown away.
“It’s frustrating, because overall the feeling I had in the car wasn’t bad, then if you make mistakes everything vanishes. I think now it’s up to us to take a step forward like McLaren did, we are behind at the moment, it has been confirmed in the last three race weekends, so there is still a lot of work to do. But, honestly, I think today’s result doesn’t fully represent what we did, the first stint was quite good, then there was the slow stop which really put us in trouble, because I got back on track behind Stroll and had to push a lot. Finally in the third stint I found a good rhythm, the car was working quite well. So yes, it seems to me that the result is worse than what our race actually said, but it is also clear that, especially compared to Lando, we are still behind.”
Beyond constructive and positive (appreciable) approaches, however, there is one aspect that overshadows everything. Ferrari needs to send out positive signals, perhaps slow but ongoing growth, and this is what was missing between Great Britain and Hungary, races in which the standings (final judge) certified a step backwards.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23
Photo by: Michael Potts / Motorsport Images
“Suddenly both at Silverstone and at the Hungaroring we found ourselves a bit behind where we were at the start of the year,” admitted Sainz, and it’s a common feeling. No one expects to see the SF-23 win races, by now this aspect has been metabolized even by the most avid Ferrari driver, but it becomes important to put something on paper on which to even try to imagine a better future, which means 2024. What we saw in Budapest does not allow for it, and it’s not just a question of points in the standings, but of problems that struggle to find a solution, such as the fateful tire management.
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