Can Ferrari Make Good At The Hungarian Grand Prix?

This weekend brings the final race before Formula 1 takes its summer break.  The Hungarian Grand Prix wraps up a string of European events, having visited England, Austria, and last weekend, France.  In what may be somewhat of a surprise, Max Verstappen won only one of the three races, with Ferrari drivers claiming the other two.

While those results may indicate that Ferrari is rolling at the Verstappen and Red Bull are on the back foot, such a conclusion would be a misconstruing of what has actually happened.  Ferrari, with a potentially dominant car and Charles Leclerc in a clear championship position, have seemingly chosen to cast aside the opportunity to take over by electing for chaos whenever a solid decision is needed.  The team botched its strategy with Leclerc in the lead at Silverstone, handing the with to their second driver Carlos Sainz but relegating Leclerc to fourth.  At the Red Bull Ring, Leclerc stole the win but Sainz was felled by reliability issues––something that has become an increasing concern for not only the works team but those running Ferrari power units.  The close out the trifecta of confusing results, Leclerc crashed out of the French GP and basically gifted the win to Verstappen; and then the team botched its strategy with Sainz, taking away a potential podium and placing him fifth.

For winning only once, Verstappen kept his wounded car on track during the British GP and claimed seventh, then followed with a runner-up, before taking the win in France.  Both his lead and the teamʻs have grown.  Both are hitting the track as though they feel no pressure and it is showing in how they outperform Ferrari even when the car might not be better.

Is this storyline set to play out once again in Hungary?  Thereʻs a very real chance it does.  Ferrari opened by showing top speed in the first two practices.  Such results point toward the Prancing Horse having the advantage and ending the first half of the season in a strong, and recovering, fashion.  Yet, there is every reason to believe they will botch it again because the forecast for Sunday predicts rain.

While not an equalizer, a sodden track does remove Ferrariʻs speed advantage and place more focus on the driver; conditions where Verstappen excels.  It even draws Lewis Hamilton into the mix with his underwhelming Mercedes but wet-track acumen.

It may be an overstatement, but as the 12th race of the season, Hungary may be a defining moment as to whether…