Truce prevails within gloomy Ferrari

BUDAPEST • Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc have put their first-round collision at the Steiermark Grand Prix last Sunday behind them, but neither is filled with much optimism for the immediate future.

The Scuderia, runners-up to Mercedes in last year's Formula One constructors' table, are fifth overall after the first two races of the season.

Leclerc was a fortunate second in the Austrian opener, despite the car lacking straight-line speed, but the pair's accident in the second race ended their involvement on the same Red Bull Ring circuit from the get-go.

Ahead of tomorrow's Hungarian Grand Prix, Leclerc said the pair had made up, with Ferrari facing more pressing concerns over their lack of speed.

"We've put it behind us," the Monegasque said at a virtual press conference.

"I directly went to talk to Seb after the race to excuse myself. I think he accepted that.

"On my side, I will focus on this weekend and trying to achieve the best result possible."

Vettel added the incident was just part and parcel of racing and the focus was now on doing the best they can at Hungaroring.

"These things are the worst that can happen, obviously if two cars of the same colour come together, it's something we always try to avoid," the German said.

"But you are racing and this stuff unfortunately was part of it. We spoke about it, it's behind us and a couple of days later, we have a chance to do better here in Hungary."

Due to the accident, Ferrari never got to test their upgrades fully, which the Italian team have rushed out for their SF1000 cars in light of the issues seen in the first two races.

Points won by Ferrari at the Steiermark Grand Prix last Sunday. They are fifth in the constructors' standings with 19 points.

But Leclerc has admitted their woes will not go away overnight.

Asked whether Ferrari had slipped out of the lead pack and into the middle, he accepted that for the time being, the sport's oldest and most successful team were not ready to win either their first constructors' title since 2008 or drivers' championship since 2007.

"Realistically, we are struggling with the performance at the moment so I don't think we can consider us as fighting for podiums at the moment," he said. "But we will try to change that."

Ferrari's worries over their car's straight-line speed appeared well founded yesterday, after Vettel and Leclerc finished sixth and seventh respectively in the first practice session.

Six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, gunning for his eighth Hungarian GP win, and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas were dominant in a one-two finish.

That led Red Bull boss Christian Horner to observe that the Silver Arrows were "looking very very, quick".

REUTERS

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