Last Updated on August 7 2025, 12:11 pm

Ferrari will head into the summer break with their collective head in their hands. A revised suspension geometry upgrade appeared to be working for Charles Leclerc as he claimed pole at the last race before the Formula One summer break in Hungary.

In the Grand Prix Leclerc surprised most F1 analysts as he easily held off McLaren’s Oscar Piastri during the first two stint of the race. At his final pit stop the Scuderia fitted another set of hard tyres to Leclerc’s car, but it was quickly evident something was wrong.

The Monegasque’s pace fell away by a remarkable second a lap and he was easily overtaken by both Piastri and Russell before trailing home in fourth place some 42 seconds behind winner Lando Norris.

 

 

 

Ferrari shambles in Hungary

Leclerc raged over the radio, suggesting the team had made changes that were discussed in the pre-race briefing. Yet he argued they should have discussed this with him first and that he could have made changes to deal with the issue by adjusting his driving style.

It now seems Ferrari were worried about excessive plank wear on Leclerc’s Ferrari and had raised the tyre pressures and reduced the front wing angle to alleviate any chance of their driver being disqualified. This of course happened to Lewis Hamilton back in China, just the day after he’d claimed victory in the Sprint.

Yet the drama on Sunday with Leclerc overshadowed what had been a terrible weekend for his team mate. Hamilton failed to make it out of the second season and started the race in twelfth place, the exact position in which he would finish.

A visibly distressed Hamilton had publicly admitted after qualifying that he was “utterly useless” and the Ferrari should consider “changing the driver.”  He further alluded to a problem within Ferrari, a theme present in Lewis’ narrative across the European racing season.

Two F1 teams talking to George Russell

 

 

 

Hamilton feels excluded at Ferrari

When asked why he felt the team should change driver, Lewis codedly responded. “When you have a feeling…. There’s a lot going on in the background, that’s not great.” This writer’s instant reaction to this comment was more than the raising of the proverbial eyebrow. Hamilton appeared to be suggesting there was some kind of disharmony within the team and changing ‘the driver’ might solve that.

Reports are now emerging from an ex-Ferrari driver and ambassador for the road car brand, that when informed of Hamilton’s arrival in 2025, a significant number of the engineers in Maranello were against the move.

Arturo Merzario was a Ferrari driver in the 1970’s before driving for a number of other teams including Williams, Fittipaldi and Shadow. Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport about Ferrari’s latest signing he was candid: “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 muses that the wedding between Ferrari and the seven times champion was first and foremost “a commercial move.” Indeed the iconic F1 brand merger of the two was born out of a decision made by the Group president John Elkann.

Alonso rages at “British Press”

 

 

 

“90% of Ferrari engineers disagreed [with Hamilton signing].”

Yet Merzario now reveals information received from personal contacts who work behind the scenes in Maranello. “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?”

The Italian concludes: “He’s not finished. He’s just waiting for the right opportunity. He’ll only take risks when necessary, not for an eighth-place finish. Also, because if he ever wanted to leave, he’d find another team. Hamilton has already shown his worth. He’s not in Leclerc’s situation: Charles still has to prove himself a champion.”

Hamilton is in the phase of his career which Sebastian Vettel found himself in when challenged at Red Bull by a fast and hungry Daniel Ricciardo. Having been beaten by his team mate George Russell in two of their three seasons together, it was time for Lewis to move on.

Unfortunately for him, unlike when Vettel made the move to Maranello, there is a very fast young driver already embedded in the team, with Charles Leclerc now in his seventh year with the Scuderia. In 2015 Vettel faced an ageing Kimi Raikkonen as his Ferrari team mate and across the four seasons they raced together, the German always had the upper hand, often by some margin.

Sky F1 Blacklisted, Reporters Muzzled

 

 

 

Wolff backs his former driver

Ferrari is like a living breathing organism and its rich history adds to the difficulty it takes for one man to tame the beast. Fred Vasseur has just been awarded a contract extension as team principal, although whether he can facilitate Hamilton’s complete acceptance by the team, is another matter.

Hamilton and Mercedes created the most successful partnership between an F1 driver and a team in the history of the sport. And even now Toto Wolff speaks out in support of his ex-driver. “Ferrari is the team with the greatest wealth in the world, and for Lewis, driving for them is a great honour but also a challenge,” he tells Gazzetta.

“He puts his heart into everything he does and is very sincere: when he goes through difficult times, he takes responsibility. It’s a characteristic of the greats: if they know they haven’t been up to par, they don’t blame the team but look within. Once this moment has passed, he’ll come back with the same motivation as always,” concludes the Mercedes boss.

F1 TV audience closing in on NASCAR

 

 

 

Ferrari ambassador: “Hamilton can’t contribute much ton Ferrari”

Former Ferrari driver and regular in the red garage at race weekends, Jarno Truli appears puzzled by Hamilton’s lack of pace. “Is it his age? The car? Something missing within the team? Or maybe he’s simply reached his limit,’’ Gazzetta reports him saying. ”It’s so strange—it’s like he’s struggling to stand out. He disappoints in qualifying, performs only slightly better in the race, but never shines. This isn’t the Hamilton we know.’’

In terms of contributing to Ferrari’s future success, Truli is skeptical. ”The truth is, only he knows what’s going through his mind right now. At the moment, it doesn’t seem like Hamilton can contribute much to Ferrari.’’

Were there no he car design and power unit regulation changes coming in 2026, the despondent Lewi Hamilton seen in Budapest could well opt to hang up his racing boots. Yet hope springs eternal within the seven times champion, that the new cars with less ground effect, will suit him better than those which first debuted in 2022 the year his troubles began.

 

 

 

Perez linked with Alpine post summer break return

Franco Colapinto crashed his Alpine during the Pirelli test in Hungary today as pressure grows on the Argentinian driver following a strong of disappointing results. He is the only current Formula One driver yet to score a point in 2025 and his head too head with team mate Pierre Gasly is also sadly lacking.

The Alpine driver has the worst statistics amongst his rookie peers. Both he and his predecessor Jack Doohan have failed to make it into Q3, whilst the others have all competed multiple times in F1’s top ten shootout on Saturday afternoon’s.

His big news move from Williams to Alpine was heralded by the de facto team boss, Flavio Briatore: “We are very pleased to come to an agreement with Williams Racing to sign Franco Colapinto. Clearly, Franco is among the best young talents in motorsport right now. It is fair to say his appearance on the Formula One grid last year caught many, me included, by surprise, and his performances have been very impressive for a rookie driver,” said the head of the Alpine F1 team….. READ MORE