Ferrari Boss Fred Vasseur Cautious After Hamilton & Leclerc Shine In Hungary
Ferrari Boss Fred Vasseur Cautious After Hamilton & Leclerc Shine In Hungary Published By, Last Updated: July 25, 2026, 12:20 IST Ferrari's Fred Vasseur downplays
Ferrari Boss Fred Vasseur Cautious After Hamilton & Leclerc Shine In Hungary Published By, Last Updated: July 25, 2026, 12:20 IST Ferrari's Fred Vasseur downplays strong practice showing by Hamilton and Leclerc at Hungarian Grand Prix, citing tyre concerns and disruptions Ferrari Boss Fred Vasseur Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur played down expectations despite a strong showing from his drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, who finished first and second in Friday’s practice sessions at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Vasseur cautioned that tyre concerns, limited data collection, and multiple interruptions during a disrupted session could impact Ferrari’s performance as the weekend progresses. He also suggested that rival teams are likely to find more pace. “So far, so good," admitted Vasseur. “But it is only Friday, and it is a good start, but let’s see tomorrow when it can be a different story.
Everyone will improve." He explained that Ferrari struggled to fully understand tyre behaviour due to disruptions, particularly in the second practice session. “It was a messy afternoon with FP2," he said. Hamilton delivered a standout lap of 1:18.729 to edge Leclerc by 0.148 seconds. Lando Norris, last year’s winner, was third for McLaren but half a second off the pace. Max Verstappen finished fourth for Red Bull Racing, with George Russell fifth for Mercedes. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who missed the opening session after handing his car to test driver Fred Vesti, could only manage 13th. Verstappen admitted Red Bull still faces issues with consistency. “It was a difficult day," he said. “Difficult to find a good balance in the car. We need to make the car more consistent on a lap and make it work on the long runs as well.
So, there’s still some work to do for tomorrow." Russell highlighted track surface changes as a challenge. “It was quite a strange day out there for everybody. Budapest is an amazing track to drive, but with half of the track resurfaced it was super bumpy," the Briton said. “And a lot of it is breaking up around the last couple of corners, which is making it quite strange to drive on. “Our single lap didn’t look great, but the long run looked more competitive. We feared Ferrari potentially, and it seemed to be the case – they looked very, very strong." Hamilton, currently 45 points behind Antonelli in the title race, remains focused on mounting a championship challenge. The seven-time world champion is aiming for a record-extending eighth title and is also chasing history this weekend, targeting a 10th pole position at the Hungaroring.
The BriefWire