F1 Summer Break: McLaren’s Title Fight, Ferrari’s Woes & Hamilton’s Drought

The summer break is a chance for everyone in Formula 1 to reset. The paddock is full of very driven and competitive people and the only way to actually get them to switch off is to force the complete shutdown of the factories, emails and work phones for a couple of weeks. What you can’t do however is stop the cogs turning inside brains and this summer will give all a chance to pause and take stock of where things are before attacking the second half of the season from Zandvoort.

For the McLaren duo, this is an opportunity to really focus on how they’re going to battle with each other as both Lando and Oscar are chasing their first ever world championship. Unless Red Bull and Max unlock some magic bullet, it looks extremely likely that this is now a two-horse race so they can really fix their minds onto how they’re going to play the internal game going forward.

Of all the teams, Ferrari is the one that really needs the summer break to re-focus. Lewis Hamilton looked absolutely crestfallen after qualifying in Budapest and I think it’s fair to say that all the pre-season fanfare is now long forgotten.

“This is now the longest run of races that Lewis has had without a podium”

Apart from the sprint in China, the much-heralded move to the red camp has not yielded the results on track. Going back to Qatar last year, this is now the longest run of races that Lewis has ever had in his career without a podium. What is a major concern to him is that Charles Leclerc has managed five podiums this season, although he is also clearly not happy with the fact that Ferrari is now further behind McLaren in the constructors’ table than they were last year.

I know that Lewis was very outspoken about his qualifying form after a painful Saturday in Hungary but actually, in comparison to last year against George Russell at Mercedes, it’s not too bad. Races like Spain and Canada, where Lewis started in front but finished behind, are good examples of how it’s the race pace from Charles that seems to put the Monegasque driver in front. Is it a case of Hamilton and the team needing to improve the way they set the car up for the races? Is it better communication during the race? Is it about doing something a bit different with the car in comparison with Leclerc? Is it, in fact, all of the above? Lots to think about during the break for the Hamilton side of the garage.

For Ferrari, it has now had a couple of races (Spain and Hungary) which started well but then the pace dropped off due to ‘issues’. It hasn’t publicly disclosed what these issues were but finishing 42sec behind Norris in Hungary was not what Leclerc would have had in mind after leading from pole position until the first pitstop. The overall performance step that McLaren has made is impressive but after finishing just 14 points away from the Woking team last season, the Italian squad won’t enjoy being 299 points away already at the summer break.

There’s been quite a cohort of rookies this season and after the intensity of the past six months they will be able to just allow their minds to catch up with the roller-coaster that their lives are now on. Isack Hadjar was a revelation in the early part of the season while Gabriel Bortoleto has quietly gone about his business and has actually been very impressive of late at a Sauber team which has made a good step on the whole.

Kimi Antonelli had big shoes to fill by stepping into the top Mercedes seat vacated by Hamilton. He had a strong weekend in Miami but otherwise he has been behind Russell and hasn’t outqualified him for a grand prix at any other time this season. The recent run of qualifying form has been frustrating for him and the team and the summer break will be a critical time for the Italian to just try and get himself in a place where he can unlock the inherent natural talent that lies within.

I have no doubt that Antonelli is a gifted driver – his karting and junior formula career were impressive – but being a rookie in a high-pressure environment of a top F1 team is a whole new ball game. Hopefully a couple of weeks out will help him reset, especially with the Italian Grand Prix not far away.