Insiders believe that another clear strategic misstep at the Hungarian Grand Prix could cost some senior members of the Ferrari F1 team over the summer break in August.
Charles Leclerc had the potential to win the F1 Hungarian GP, but Ferrari’s strategy of rounding up the second stint on the medium early and running the third stint on hard tires was not the same as other teams’ drivers. Just looking at the performance on the hard tyres, it was a clear failure.
Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher says he “doesn’t understand” Ferrari’s decision at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
“I don’t think Red Bull expected that kind of help,” Ralf Schumacher told Sky Deutschland.
Even Charles Leclerc worries about the possibility of playing the wrong strategy in his fastest car.
“The hard tires killed us,” said Leclerc.
“We need to improve as a team and understand what we did wrong. If it happens again, we have no chance.”
Championship leader Max Verstappen defended Ferrari’s mistake, but also praised Red Bull’s own head of strategy Hannah Schmitz for always remaining “very calm”.
“It’s very important if you want to fight for the championship,” said Verstappen.
Max Verstappen’s father Jos agreed, telling De Telegraaf: “Our decisions are not always right, but we certainly make fewer mistakes.”
“That’s why we’re 80 points ahead.”
Ferrari F1 team principal Mattia Binotto has admitted that using hard tires was “clearly not the right decision”.
“We had the right strategy in France and Austria, and usually it’s right. Sometimes we make mistakes, but so do others.”
But there is no doubt that a series of strategic missteps has eroded Ferrari’s chances of winning the drivers’ title for the first time since 2007.
Should Ferrari F1 consider replacing Inaki Rueda as head of strategy?
“Not only Inaki, but the whole team is great and I fully support them,” insisted Mattia Binotto.
“I don’t think it gets a lot of attention when the opponent makes a mistake.”
“So I fully support everyone in the team to do a great job of balance.”
However, according to Ralf Schumacher, a series of errors have cast doubt on Matti Binotto’s role as team principal as well as strategist.
“It looks like their jobs are in jeopardy,” Schumacher said.
“Daniel (Riccardo) and Mattia.”
“It’s going to be difficult when you take the gift of Ferrari and the world championship and throw it away quite carelessly.”
“So I think he’s in danger over the summer break. There are too many little things that go wrong, too many technical issues.”
