Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc disagree about their cars ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Heading into Hungary, Ferrari have established themselves as the second fastest car on the grid behind the championship front-runner, McLaren. They are consistently challenging for the podium and show pace weekend after weekend.
| Position | Constructors' Standings | Points |
| 1 | McLaren Racing | 516 |
| 2 | Scuderia Ferrari | 248 |
| 3 | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | 220 |
| 4 | Red Bull Racing | 192 |
Leclerc has found more joy than Hamilton through the first half of the season, however. He leads the seven-time world champion by 30 points in the Drivers’ standings, and is on the front foot again this weekend.
Lewis Hamilton ‘highly doubts’ he can challenge for the second row
Hamilton was four tenths off his teammate in FP1, and three tenths away in FP2. He called the Ferrari difficult to drive before Silverstone, but it looked as though he had found some familiarity with the car in Spa after an incredible drive from Hamilton.
However, he is off the pace this weekend and struggling to find the balance of the car. After FP2, he was asked about the possibility of challenging for the second row, and replied, “I’m quite far off, so I highly doubt it.”
“Today was not a good day. Big, big struggle with the balance of the car, and it’s a lot different from previous years I’ve been here.
“It’s very inconsistent balance from corner to corner. You can’t just say it’s understeer or oversteer; it’s just far from being on rails.
“We think it could be something with tyre temperature, so we’re going to try and figure that out before tomorrow.”
Charles Leclerc hopes to challenge the McLarens
As Hamilton’s Ferrari struggles continue, Leclerc is feeling happy with the car after Friday’s practice. He has been with the team since 2019 and is therefore well-acquainted with the way the team and the car operate.
He said he is hopeful he can challenge the McLarens in qualifying. Leclerc said, “The feeling with the car has been pretty positive so far. We have to take some more steps in the right direction before tomorrow, but right now it’s feeling good.”
“Right now, we are behind McLaren and ahead of the rest, so let’s see tomorrow. In qualifying, in Q3, I hope we can do something better than P3.”
The two Ferrari drivers are in total disagreement about the car’s condition. Hamilton will hope he can take some learnings from Leclerc ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he holds the record for the most amount of wins.