Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari, Formula 1 (Photo by Arthur Thill ATPImages/Getty Images)
Following a French Grand Prix they should have won, Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring was supposed to be Ferrari’s bounce-back race, one in which they closed the 82-point gap to Red Bull in the Formula 1 constructor standings and one in which Charles Leclerc closed the 63-point gap to Max Verstappen in the driver standings.
Throughout the rest weekend and even most of Sunday’s 70-lap race around the 14-turn, 2.722-mile (4.381-kilometer) Budapest road course, they looked like they were going to do just that, as the nature of the course is practically tailored to the strengths of the F1-75.
But yet another strategy blunder knocked Leclerc from a potential race-winning position to sixth place, and teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. could only salvage fourth after seemingly losing the pace that he had put on display throughout the weekend.
Verstappen, meanwhile, won the race after starting in 10th place. In 27 previous Grand Prix wins, he had never started outside of the top four, and despite a spin during the event, he was able to take the checkered flag from row five.
It was yet another weekend full of “When I die, I want Ferrari strategists to lower me into my grave, so they can let me down one last time.”
Ferrari’s 2022 season has been characterized by mistakes, be it on the reliability side, the strategy side, or the driver side.
Despite these deficits, there is a legitimate case to be made that they have the quickest car on the grid, having taken eight pole positions to Red Bull’s four thus far.
While single-lap pace and race pace can tell different stories, Leclerc has also retired while leading on three occasions.
WynnBET now lists Verstappen as the -1000 favorite to win this year’s world championship, meaning that a successful $1,000 bet would only win you $100.
Before the race, he had been in the -300 to -400 range.
They list Leclerc as the second favorite, but as a massive underdog at +750, meaning that a successful $100 bet would win $750.
Before the race, he had been in the +250 to +400 range.
Odds for the other contenders are as follows.
As far as the constructor battle goes, things are a bit less gloomy for the Prancing Horse, but they still aren’t pretty.
Action is scheduled to resume on Sunday, August 28 with the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Will this be the final Formula 1 race contested at Spa?
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