Leclerc led halfway through the race but dropped to sixth after a change to the hard tire backfired and saw his pace fizzled. Teammate Carlos Sainz also fell out of contention for victory, eventually finishing fourth as Ferrari lamented its struggles for pace in colder conditions. It marked the last race where Ferrari’s strategies came to the fore, but team principal Binotto denied there was a need for changes at Maranello. “It’s not a matter of bad luck and there’s nothing to change either,” Binotto said after Sunday’s race. “It’s always about constantly learning and building, building experience, building skills. “Today [Sunday], there is definitely something to consider and understand why. But if I look back at the balance of the first half of the season, there is no reason to change. “I think we’ve just got to deal with what was wrong today, we’ve got to understand and then deal and come back competitive in the 12 games so far [before Hungary] and the reason it couldn’t happen in the next one.” Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75 Photo: Ferrari Binotto claimed Ferrari lacked the pace to win in Hungary regardless of their strategy calls, but Leclerc was left baffled by the call to go hard. The Monegasque driver eventually came in for a third pit stop, dropping him to sixth, which meant the gap to Verstappen at the top of the F1 standings increased to 80 points. Binotto was confident Leclerc could “rest and relax to come back even hungrier” after the summer break, helping Ferrari move on and recover from their recent run. “As a leader as he is [key] keep building, building for the team and building for himself step by step, and I think every match will be an opportunity to win,” said Binotto. “We win and lose overall. Today was not great, but I think there is still a lot of potential and a lot of potential. “We must first focus on understanding the reasons for today, dealing with them and coming back even stronger.” Read also:
