Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished the Hungarian Grand Prix sixth as the SF1000 lacked pace all race long at the Hungaroring, with the Maranello-based squad having locked out the third row in qualifying but their dry pace failed to given them a chance to fight for a podium.
The Grand Prix stared in damp conditions and the scarlet red cars got away well with Vettel trailing his less experienced team-mate Charles Leclerc, but the track dried rapidly meant it soon became a mad dash to the pits to switch to slick tyres.
With Leclerc having track position, Vettel was forced to go for an extra lap where he instructed his mechanics to set the medium compound. This proved to be the correct move as Leclerc’s switch to the soft compound left the Monegasque racer outside of the points.
Towards the back end of the Grand Prix the German had to start looking behind himself rather then ahead to fourth place Lance Stroll, with Alexander Albon covering his mirrors. Whilst he defended honourably, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing‘s Albon had five-lap fresher tyres and managed to use his extra grip to make a lunge heading into turn one to take the position away.
“This was a better performance compared to my first race in Austria,” said Vettel after the race. “However, in the early stages we might have done a bit better if I’d taken more of a gamble and come in for dry tyres on lap three instead of four.
“As it was, I lost a lot of time, having to let other cars come down pit lane before I could be released. But in the end, fifth or sixth was the most we could have done.
“Towards the end, I was struggling with the tyres and even if I would have loved to have put up more of a fight, there wasn’t much I could do to keep Alex (Albon) behind me. We are not where we want to be just now, but at least we did everything we could today.“
