It was a familiar story for Ferrari fans in Hungary, as another strategy blunder saw both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz’s races ruined.
Sainz and Leclerc went into the Hungarian GP feeling confident of their chances. They arguably had the better car over the course of the weekend, and Max Verstappen’s engine issues on Saturday meant that they could make amends for their mistakes over the last few weeks.
However, as we have seen on multiple occasions earlier this year, their decision making proved to be their own worst enemy. Criticizing Ferrari’s strategy nowadays has become a norm in F1, and for good reason.
The Scuderia along with all F1 teams saw that the hard compound tyres didn’t fire up on Friday during practice. Furthermore, Alpine pitted both their drivers for the hards, which also didn’t work out. In spite of that, they decided to put on the very same compound on Leclerc’s F1-75 during his second stop.
The strategists at Ferrari expected the tyres to heat up and provide good traction. On the contrary, it slowed him down massively and Verstappen was able to pass him quite comfortably.
Also read: Fernando Alonso fumes at horrendous defending by 6″2 Alpine teammate
Fans bash Ferrari yet again for ruining Hungarian GP for Charles Leclerc
2022 will be a season that Leclerc will look back on as wasted opportunity. Ferrari have the car to compete for the Title, but their internal problems have proved to be their Achilles heel.
Reliability issues, questionable strategy calls and reluctance to change are the main things that have spoiled their campaign, heading into the three week summer break.
Ferrari adopted a strategy for Leclerc in Hungary that was not even in the list of Pirelli’s strategy recommendations. All other teams followed that list, even though it was varied. Fans of the 24-year old were furious once again, and slandered the Italian outfit on social media.
Sainz meanwhile also looked strong at the Hungaroring. His race got spoiled by the Ferrari pit-crew. They held him for two slow stops that allowed Hamilton to snatch a podium finish away from him.
Even though there are 10 races to go, Ferrari won’t approach the latter half of this season with much optimism, especially if their current trend of shooting themselves in the foot continues.
