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Ollie Cooper, The Independent

The Formula 1 summer break is upon us. A time for reflection, rest and improvements. Red Bull can look back on a marvellous stretch of races, capped off by a masterful drive by Max Verstappen in Budapest to extend his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship to 80 points.

Mercedes are probably a lot happier than they thought they should have been, given their torrid start to the season. McLaren will be a bit down in the dumps, but the most disappointed team by a comfortable margin will be Ferrari.

The end of the summer break cannot come quickly enough for their strategy team, as they’ll be left with far too much time to sit and reflect on the fact they have cost Charles Leclerc a run at the championship. Hungary was the latest in a spate of poor decisions that have seen the Monegasque slip from race leader into the futile midfield come the end of races (that’s if they manage to finish).

It has only been four years since they last made a real push for title contendership, only to lose out to the brilliant Mercedes in 2018, but Ferrari have been lurking in the midfield and been contented to be “best of the rest” for far longer than that (few will need reminding that their last constructors’ championship came in 2008, and drivers’ in 2007).

Ferrari are so used to having mid-table results that when their engineers eventually presented them with a genuinely world-beating car, they didn’t know what to do with it. Some decisions have seen much of the F1 world wonder whether Ferrari have any interest in letting their drivers win at all. It seems ridiculous to say this, given the contrast between the two in the first few races of the season, but it seems more likely to me that Mercedes will finish above Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.

Contrast that with their rivals in the paddock — Mercedes have made the best of a bad situation, with Russell finishing inside the top five in every race bar the British Grand Prix and Lewis Hamilton scoring a few crucial podiums in a very average car that has pushed their drivers to their limits. They have reaped their just rewards for their patience with the W-13, with a brilliant 2-3 at the Hungaroring. They are now just 30 points behind Ferrari in the constructors’, and should this shambolic spate of poor strategy decisions continue to cost Leclerc and his team, then Mercedes could easily swoop in and snatch second.

Red Bull have made a few mistakes along the way but have been effortlessly clinical outside of a couple of did not finishes. Perhaps, because of the time spent outside of the top of the table, Ferrari feel the added pressure seeing just how consistent Red Bull strategy is that they need to somehow “outdo” them with elaborate game plans and risky tyre changes (which we are yet to see pay off).

The real loser in all of this is, of course, Leclerc. I can say hand on heart that I think Verstappen would always have come out on top, but it would’ve been so much fun to see Leclerc and Verstappen go wheel to wheel once every couple of weeks, as the Dutchman and Lewis Hamilton did last season. When we have seen glimpses of that battle, it’s been great value — two of the three best drivers in the paddock, lining up in the two best cars. It should be tight at the top — instead, George Russell sits just 20 points behind Leclerc, with Red Bull’s number two Sergio Perez just three behind.

Make no mistake about it, Ferrari’s F1-75 is an exceptional car. If you handed it to Mercedes they’d be screeching out in front right now, such is the quality of their team, top to bottom.