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Ferrari's Hungarian frustration: Wasted chance due to 'poor execution'
A promising weekend ended in disappointment for Ferrari at the Hungaroring, with team principal Fred Vasseur pointing the finger at a string of 'poor execution' and crucial mistakes.
By Hans van den Broekma - 2026-07-27T03:50:09.000Z - 3 min read
After a promising start to the race weekend at the Hungaroring, where Ferrari showed the potential to fight for victory, Sunday brought mostly frustration for the Maranello squad. Team principal Fred Vasseur made no secret of his disappointment, speaking of 'poor execution' that resulted in 'too many mistakes.' It was clearly not the performance expected after strong free practice sessions.
Although Ferrari narrowly won the weekend's points battle against Mercedes by a single point in the constructors' standings, discontent ran deep. In particular, the fact that Kimi Antonelli managed to extend his lead over Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' standings hit hard. Vasseur, usually composure personified, looked visibly more annoyed than usual. He stressed that the pure pace of the SF-26 this weekend was likely better than at Spa or Silverstone, but the execution left much to be desired.
Charles Leclerc, who crossed the finish line in fourth, noted that the SF-26 delivered an inconsistent performance throughout the race. 'At no point were we exceptional,' he stated afterwards. While the first stint on hard tires and the final one on softs were reasonable, the car experienced 'too many ups and downs.' According to Leclerc, a lack of consistent performance makes the car 'very tricky' at times for both himself and Hamilton.
For Lewis Hamilton, the race was 'pretty bad, pretty frustrating.' A crucial pit lane speeding penalty, caused by switching off the limiter just 0.1 km/h too early, compounded his painful afternoon. Vasseur described this as part of an 'accumulation of errors' on Hamilton's side, which also included time lost during the final pit stop that allowed Antonelli to just slip past.
Hamilton also openly questioned the decision to pit for fresh tires during the Virtual Safety Car period. He would have preferred to stay out longer, much like Max Verstappen behind him. 'I don't really know why we stopped at the end,' said Hamilton, who received the call right in front of the pit lane entry without time to discuss it. He thought he wouldn't lose track position, but he did.
Vasseur defended the strategy, arguing that the team had the oldest set of hard tires in the field at that moment and that the soft compound's performance was positive. He referenced Verstappen's stint as a benchmark and cited the desire to pull off an undercut. A decision must be made before the outcome is known, and Vasseur claimed he would make the exact same choice again.
From a potential 1-2 on Friday to fourth and fifth places on Sunday, the contrast was stark. Poor decisions at the start, lost positions during pit stops, and an on-track pass by Verstappen illustrated where it all went wrong. 'Everything went wrong,' Vasseur concluded. The pure speed may have been there, but Sunday's execution was simply not up to scratch.