Expectations unfulfilled once again
The Grand Prix of Hungary it was supposed to be a race from win big for Ferrari. Team principal Mattia had also declared it binotto, immediately following the debacle in France last week. “We leave Le Castellet with full confidence in our package and our drivers. We are lucky because in a week Hungary will be there, it will allow us to turn the page and move forward.
“It will be very hot and it will once again be a matter of managing the tires and their overheating, similar to what happened at Paul Ricard. We must be positive, ours obiettivo in Budapest it won't be a victory, but one brace".
There was a lot of trust outcome was disappointing. You can blame the cold (on Friday Ferrari seemed to dominate with a hot asphalt temperature, which wasn't the case in the race), a "car that didn't run" as Binotto always said a few hours ago, but the truth is that Ferrari must archive the 2022 championship and think about the future.
Much more could have been done
Since 2020 at Ferrari the constant has always been one: win in 2022. It cannot be said that Ferrari has not done the breakthrough. Eight pole positions, four victories and eleven podiums in twelve races are a haul that any Ferrari driver would have signed up for a year ago.
What makes the fans angry and sad is that the F1-75 could have won every single Grand Prix from Bahrain to Hungary and instead so many points were wasted for various reasons: reliability problems, wrong strategies, pilot errors, bad luck.
La yesterday's race sums up the season almost perfectly. After a good qualifying, which saw Sainz miss pole for nothing but still start on the front row with Leclerc immediately behind, Ferrari attacked and passed Russell with the number 16 and was about to do the same with the number 55 too.
Ferrari: strategy needs to be improved
Although Binotto denied the rumors, the race was lost due to strategy. Leclerc and Sainz were flying with the mediums while the Monegasque was easily passed by Verstappen twice in a few laps, with the Dutchman even allowing himself the "luxury" of doing a 360 between the two overtakings.
Reliability who betrayed the Reds in Spain, Baku and Austria can be classified as road accident: When you push to be the best, sometimes you cross the line. What is not forgivable are the strategy errors. Leclerc lost two potential victories in Monaco and Silverstone due to mistakes on the wall and could have played with Verstappen all the way today too with a different choice of compounds.
Ferrari collapses under pressure: seen in 2017, 2018, 2019 and this year. In Maranello the 2022 championship must be archived and run the second part of the season with a head clear of worries world championships, ensuring that the 2023 car is not yet another winning car that ends the year with zero titles.
SOURCE STATEMENTS: Formula Passion
