BUDAPEST- Formula One began its mid-season break on Monday despite vows from sport’s heavyweights Ferrari and McLaren that there would be little let-up as they began preparations for the decisive stage of the season.

Both teams will be offering welcome time off to drivers and mechanics in a three-week pause from official test sessions before the European Grand Prix in Valencia on Aug. 24.

But serious work will go on at the respective bases after Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix maintained the tension at the top of the standings.

“We showed the worth of our team and our drivers but we lacked the total reliability which is absolutely vital,” comments Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicalli after Felipe Massa missed out on taking the overall championship lead due to an engine failure just three laps from the chequered flag. He adds that a three weeks of hard work preparation will be required before the European Grand Prix.

Ferrari also has found out a mechanical problem with Kimi Raikkonen’s car and instructed the Finn to ease up on the final laps. But Domenicalli stresses that the two faults were unrelated. Raikkonen got the car home in third place behind McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen and Toyota’s Timo Glock as Ferrari stayed on top of the constructors’ championship.

Lewis Hamilton’s fifth place following a puncture in the race’s middle section has made the McLaren man to stay on top of the drivers’ standings. Raikkonen climbed to second place, just five points behind. Massa ended third, eight points behind Hamilton.

Despite their technical setbacks, Ferrari could relax on the blistering pace shown by Massa, on his daring pass of both Kovalainen and Hamilton at the first turn.

“We obviously cannot say that everything is one hundred percent. We will have to push very hard these next three weeks in the factory in terms of the car’s development and reliability,” comments Massa after the disaster.

“If we had been out in front then it perhaps would have been a little different, but they showed some really strong pace,” said Hamilton. “We already knew they were fast. It’s just you guys (in the media) who seem to think there’s a huge difference.”

After the comment on last week that he feels need for a holiday, Hamilton seemed to have talked himself into a few extra press-ups. “I think Lewis has definitely set himself up for a more intense training program for the next three weeks by saying that”, commented team boss Ron Dennis.

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