Ferrari presently look like a tinderbox about to ignite with internal divisions becoming apparent at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The resident of there group appeared to call for unity within the team, when in the run up to cars on track he waxed lyrical about how the team’s former glories were brought about were brought about by team work.

Lewis Hamilton was a shadow of his former self, exiting qualifying in Q2 and his race was little better as he came home in twelfth place, where he started the Grand Prix.

Hamilton blamed himself for his poor performance, stating he was “utterly useless” and suggesting that Ferrari should “change the driver.” He further implied there was trouble behind the scenes in Maranello when pressed on why the team should recruit e replacement driver.

 

 

 

Hamilton suggests all not well in Maranello

“When you have a feeling…. There’s a lot going on in the background, that’s not great,” said a visibility distressed Hamilton. Since the weekend Ferrari grandee revealed his sources within the F1 team didn’t want the seven times champion to replace Carlos Sainz.

Arturo Merzario speaking to La Gazzetta considered Hamilton’s shock comments: “I think his outburst was ironic in some ways. His position certainly wasn’t what one would expect from a seven-time world champion. Rather, it seems to me that Lewis is feeling ‘demolished’ by Ferrari.”

The Italian believes many of there Maranello employees didn’t want Hamilton to join the team. “Ninety per cent of Ferrari engineers disagreed [with signing Hamilton], at least from what I understand. And then, when a driver doesn’t feel valued or an integral part of the team’s pursuit of a goal, he loses motivation. Why go crazy trying to gain three-tenths while still remaining on the third row?”

This is a far cry from how Hamilton was received during his twelve seasons at Mercedes, winning six drivers titles and eight constructors championships – all of which add to the bonuses of the team’s employees.

Wolff: Ferrari avoid “truly stupid” mistake for 2026

 

 

 

Leclerc fumes over team radio

And it wasn’t just Hamilton who was outspoken in Hungary, his team mate Charles Leclerc issued an extraordinary rant during the Grand Prix. Having easily rebuffed all attacks from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on his first two sets of tyres, despite fitting a second set of hard tyres at his final pit stop, his SF-25 was immediately off the pace as the Monegasque raged at the team for their actions at his final change of rubber.

“I can feel what we discussed before the race… we need to discuss those things before doing them [at the pit stop],” he fumed before adding. “We are going to lose this race with these things. We are losing so much time.”

“This is so incredibly frustrating,” he continued. “We’ve lost all competitiveness. You just have to listen to me, I would have found a different way of managing those issues. Now it’s just undriveble. Undriveable. It’s a miracle if we finish on the podium.”

Leclerc was spot on as he was quickly swallowed up and passed by Oscar Piastri having made his final stop of the race. Several laps later it was George Russell’s turn to breeze past the stricken Ferrari into turn one.

F1 teams upset over FIA lack of consultation

 

 

 

Ferrari interfere with ride height

Having led the race with some ease, Charles was to trail home in fourth place some 42 seconds behind the winning McLaren driver, Lando Norris. After the race George Russell revealed his Mercedes team knew what Ferrari had done to noble their driver.

“We think they were running the car too low to the ground and had to increase the tyre pressure for the last stint because they were using a engine mode which was making the car slower at the end of the straight which is where you have the most amount of plank wear,” observed Russell. Increased tyre pressure in the second set of hard tyres together with less downforce on the front wing would have raised the car – but at the cost of its peak performance.

Indeed Ferrari have suffered with ride height issues this season, with Lewis Hamilton being disqualified for excessive wear of the plank, which ensures the teams do not run with illegal ride heights. Leclerc’s comment that he would have preferred to be allowed to “manage those issues” himself was referring to a number of races where the Scuderia driver’s have been give “lift and coast” instructions.

By lifting earlier before entering a corner, the rear of the car rises up therefore reducing the plank wear on the underfloor of the car. By the time the. Monegasque driver reached the media pen, he was singing a while different tune than when furious on the radio.

Perez linked with Alpine post summer break return

 

 

 

Leclerc U-Turn

Looking slightly sheepish, leclerc explained in the media pen: “From around Lap 40 we had a problem with the chassis, so now I’ve had more details about it,” said Leclerc. “In the car obviously I had no idea what was going on. I mean I had an idea, but it was a wrong idea because I thought it was something that was in our control.”

Of course this was not really the case given whenever a driver has chassis damage, the team informs them usually with analysis stating how many points of downforce are gone. Further, at the last pit stop the team reduced the angle of the front wing, which bleeds off downforce and increases the ride height of the car.

The final confirmation of Ferrari’s issues at the Hungaroring was when a director of the team rushed over to catch his driver, as he extracted himself from the car in parc ferme. Asian publication Auto Sport Web confirms sporting director, Diego Loverno “quickly rushed” to speak to Leclerc to prevent him “exploding in front of the media.”

Two F1 teams talking to George Russell

 

 

 

Ferrari president calls for unity

Having been lambasted by the Italian media for their mistake in China, where Lewis Hamilton was disqualified for running his car too low during the Grand Prix, Ferrari are incredibly sensitive over the information they release. The “chassis” explanation was clearly a hurried cover up which Leclerc was told to use in his interviews.

Yet it was the comments from president John Elkann which are of most concern given they suggested the team is disunited unlike when they were winning with Michael Schumacher.  “We all remember when we were victorious, and we were victorious because there was a very strong sense that incredible individuals – from our engineers, our mechanics, our pilots, our team principal – were really individuals that worked together.

“So it’s not about the individual, but it’s about the collective effort of great individuals who can achieve even more together,” he concluded. Given Ferrari are not winning in Formula One, frame Elkann’s comments in an interesting light.”

This together with Hamilton’s words and those of Arturo Merzario, paint a worrying picture of the goings on in Maranello where the drivers and engineers are not singing from the same hymn sheet, with many preferring Hamilton was gone.

 

 

 

MORE F1 NEWS – Renault offered eye watering sum to sell Alpine

Renault have dabbled with being a works team over their time in Formula One, but most of their success has been as an engine supplier to customer teams. The pinnacle of success for the French owned outfit was with Fernando Alonso, then a rising star in the sport, as they won both F1 championships in 2005/6.

Since then they sold the team to Geni Capital in 2010, only to buy it back again ready for the 2016 season. Yet their results in the since becoming a full works outfit again have been particularly poor. They have just one win with Esteban Ocon in Hungary 2021 and six podiums, two of which were at last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which in anybodies books is a shocking return for an F1 works based outfit.

In 2022 with the planned new power units, already a year late, the FIA decided to freeze the development of the F1 power units in an effort to save cost for the customers. The teams were then allowed one season where they could tinker with the composites they used, to improve any reliability issues.