Carlos Sainz ally explains compromise Ferrari must make at Hungarian Grand Prix

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Riccardo Adami has explained the compromise Ferrari must make at the Hungarian Grand Prix for Carlos Sainz to stand a chance of taking a strong result this weekend.

The pinnacle of motorsport has made its annual visit to Budapest this week for round 13. F1 will enjoy one final double-header with the Belgian GP immediately following the Hungarian GP before its summer break. Sainz will hope he can also return to a podium purely on merit.

Ferrari have only seen Sainz reach one rostrum in the last four rounds after benefitting from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’s crash in the Austrian GP. He adopted third place for the 29-year-old’s fifth podium of the term, in which Sainz has stood on the third step four times.

Riccardo Adami admits Ferrari must compromise their set-up for the Hungarian GP

Sainz secured his fourth P5 finish of the season last time out in the British GP, as well, where Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc got P14 after mistakes with his strategy. It marked the first race since the Australian GP of 2023 where neither scored a point after at least one finished.

READ MORE: Five unforgettable Hungarian Grand Prix including Alonso and Hamilton’s spat

The Hungarian GP now delivers Ferrari with another challenge for Sainz and Leclerc to score top points. Adami, who has acted as Sainz’s race engineer ever since the Spaniard joined the Scuderia, admits Ferrari will need to compromise their set-up to cope with the Hungaroring.

“The Hungaroring is a circuit characterised by many low-speed corners and few straights,” Adami told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Usually the aerodynamic configuration of the car is high downforce, even if this means greater resistance to advancement. Excellent traction is required but also a very reactive front axle in the centre of the corner to be able to optimise the mileage.”

Ferrari will hope their upgraded floor at the Hungaroring avoids a repeat of 2023

The Hungaroring was not a great hunting ground for Ferrari last year as Leclerc finished in P7 and Sainz ended the Hungarian GP in P8. Leclerc had crossed the line in P6 but fell back one spot to George Russell after receiving a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

READ MORE: The most successful F1 teams and engine manufacturers at the Hungarian GP

It meant Leclerc ended the 2023 Hungarian GP in a worse position than he started it in after qualifying in P6. Sainz qualified in P11 after missing out on a spot in Q3 by 0.002 seconds to Fernando Alonso. But even Zhou Guanyu put his then-named Alfa Romeo in P5 on the grid.

Ferrari will surely fear another difficult visit to the Hungaroring this year as the Scuderia are set to unveil an upgraded floor this weekend. The Maranello natives hope it will help fix the bouncing problems Ferrari endured at Silverstone which their Spanish GP upgrades caused.