Hungarian GP: Why Budapest could ignite Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari title fight against Kimi Antonelli | F1 News

Julho 22, 2026 lojamais44@gmail.com

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Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari must “come and fight for the win” at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix while McLaren boss Andrea Stella expects the Scuderia to be “extremely competitive”.

Ferrari and Mercedes have shared two wins each in the last four rounds although the Silver Arrows have had the upper hand on outright pace for most of the season.

Kimi Antonelli, who is now 45 points in front of Hamilton and 50 points ahead of George Russell in the Drivers’ Championship, was on flying form last weekend in Belgium, even overturning the misfortune of not being able to pit under a Virtual Safety Car to beat Charles Leclerc on Sunday.

However, Ferrari were closer than anticipated at Spa-Francorchamps which bodes well for the Hungaroring as the track features lots of corners and that should play into Ferrari’s hands.

“I think in Hungary, the Netherlands we will see the Ferrari being back to probably being the fastest car we see in the corners there. Extremely competitive,” Stella told Sky Sports F1.

Hamilton has a record eight wins at the Hungarian Grand Prix but five-second time penalties at the last two races mean he has not challenged for victory since his triumph at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix last month.

“I’m hoping we can be [competitive]. I need to come correct this week and make sure I deliver the way I know I can deliver in Budapest,” he said.

“We have to come and fight for that win.”

Why Ferrari might be the team to beat in Budapest

Ferrari have been the benchmark in the corners this year while their main weakness has been their power unit, although they have closed their deficit to Mercedes and Red Bull recently.

The last two tracks – Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps – relied on a strong power unit due to the long flat out zones but the Hungaroring is largely about the chassis.

Energy deployment, or a lack of, will not be an issue so the cars with the best chassis will be strong, so Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok thinks we could see a repeat of Barcelona – where Hamilton was victorious.

“Ferrari have been behind Mercedes if you look at the trend across the season, apart from Barcelona where I think Lewis Hamilton genuinely had the outright pace to beat Mercedes,” said Chandhok.

“I think Ferrari will be very strong [in Budapest]. We saw in Barcelona the aerodynamic package and the cornering speeds of the Ferrari is very strong.”

Sky Sports F1‘s Bernie Collins added: “Hungary and Zandvoort (the first race after the summer break) are both tracks where the straight-line performance is not tested on these cars, or any car at all. Those are downforce circuits where you are trying to get the most out of the car through those corners and that will promote Ferrari.”

Vasseur, Leclerc play down Ferrari chances

There were similar expectations about Ferrari heading into the Monaco Grand Prix in June, only for Antonelli to convert pole position into victory.

Leclerc said: “I think it’s very difficult to predict the level of performance of every team. I recall very well what the overall feeling was before Monaco, and we arrived in Monaco and were underperforming compared to what everybody thought we would, so I think we need to be cautious.

“We just need to do our homework, just like we do at every different track. I think what we did particularly well over these last two weekends was to really make sure that we maximised our package, and that’s the mentality we should keep for Budapest, without thinking about expectations.”

But, Ferrari have brought upgrades to the car since Monaco which further improved their cornering performance. Nevertheless, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur is also managing expectations.

“I think everybody will bring upgrades and we don’t know the picture of the performance. Everybody is pushing,” he said.

“You have a lot of performance in the execution on tyre management, tyre preparation, set-up, and the layout of the track. I think if we do the same qualify of job as this weekend, it will pay off, but it is not a given. It’s not a given for us and not a given for the others. Each weekend we are starting from scratch.

“For sure on paper the layout like Silverstone and Spa are probably a bit more difficult than some others. But on the other hand, in Monaco, we are not shining. That means we have to continue to push, to keep the same approach and never think that it will be ease, because it is never easy.”

Sky Sports F1’s Hungarian GP schedule

Thursday July 23
2pm: Drivers’ Press Conference
5pm: Paddock Uncut

Friday July 24
8.50am: F3 Practice
10am: F2 Practice
12pm: Hungarian GP Practice One (session starts at 12.30pm)*
1.55pm: F3 Qualifying
3pm: F2 Qualifying
3.45pm: Hungarian GP Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)
5.15pm: The F1 Show

Saturday July 25
9am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Hungarian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint*
2.15pm: Hungarian GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: HUNGARIAN GP QUALIFYING*
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*

Sunday July 26
7.35am: F3 Feature Race
9.05am: Porsche Supercup
10.20am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Hungarian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
2pm: THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Hungarian GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
5pm: Ted’s Notebook*

*Also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 heads straight to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix with every session live on Sky Sports F1 from this Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime

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