Ferrari F1 Eyes Back-to-Back Success With Hungarian GP Focus
Following the boost Ferrari received at the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend, team principal Fred Vasseur has revealed preparations for the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend, the last round before the summer break.
Charles Leclerc secured his fifth podium of the season at Spa-Francorchamps, while Lewis Hamilton, who started the race in the pit lane because Ferrari fitted his SF-25 with a new power unit, finished within the points in P7.
The Belgian GP marked Hamilton's first race in a long time where he was happy about his car's performance. The seven-time world champion admitted that he worked with his engineer the previous night to get the setup right. This was necessary, given the new rear suspension Ferrari introduced at Spa.
Vasseur addressed the mood at Ferrari after the Belgian GP and highlighted Hamilton's Q1 exit in qualifying after his lap time was deleted due to track limits. Despite the challenge, he finished seventh behind Alex Albon. The Ferrari team boss said:
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur on the pit wall during the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 28, 2024 in Spa, Belgium.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur on the pit wall during the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 28, 2024 in Spa, Belgium."The mood is good. For sure it's not the result that we are expecting with Lewis in the Quali yesterday, but I think it's part of the life of a racing team that we reacted collectively very well today, that Lewis did a great job.
"He was quite aggressive at the beginning in the extreme conditions, he was able to fight with [Alex] Albon until the end and I think it was a good recovery for him also to be efficient like this.
"For sure that we have to do a better job from the beginning, that if you want to score podiums or wins that you can't let one session away and we will have to do a step next week [in Hungary], but we are all pushing in the same direction."
Vasseur explained that Ferrari did not want to postpone introducing the upgrades to the next round in Budapest and thus, took the risky decision to test it during the sprint weekend at Spa. This would also help Ferrari's setup strategy for the race at the Hungaroring. He added:
"It's never easy to introduce something on a Sprint weekend but we didn't want to postpone to Budapest.
"It's true that with the format of the weekend, the fact that you don't long stint on Friday or you're doing a long stint of four laps, it's not easy to have references.
"But at the end I think it was the right call because it's also the best preparation for us for Hungary."
Despite Ferrari gearing up its development of the 2026 car, Vasseur suggested that his team will continue bringing minor track-specific upgrades until the end of this season, but ruled out a major upgrade. He said:
"I think we are all in the same situation that the closer you will be to the end of the season, the more focused you will be on next year and for sure we will have to bring some small items until the end, more related to the layout of the track or the weather conditions or whatever, but no big package."
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