Charles Leclerc’s Frustrating Performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix
Charles Leclerc, the Monegasque driver for Ferrari, has expressed deep frustration over an issue that may have cost the team its only chance of victory in the 2025 Formula 1 season. The incident occurred during the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Leclerc initially showed strong form but ultimately faced a significant setback.
Leclerc managed to secure pole position ahead of McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, as well as Mercedes’ George Russell. Throughout the race, he led 28 of the first 39 laps at the Hungaroring, briefly relinquishing the lead to Norris, who eventually won the race after a one-stop strategy. However, things took a turn for the worse on lap 40 when Leclerc began to lose pace, falling 37 seconds behind Piastri over the final 30 laps.
“This is so incredibly frustrating,” Leclerc said over the team radio. “We have lost all competitiveness. You just had to listen to me. I would have found a different way of managing these issues. Now it’s just undriveable. Undriveable. It will be a miracle if we finish on the podium.”
Despite his frustration, Leclerc carefully avoided providing any specific technical details about the problem during the race, aiming to protect the team’s strategies. However, after the race, he admitted that he had misinterpreted the situation and apologized for his earlier outburst.
“I need to take back the words I said in the radio, because I thought it was coming from one thing, but then I got a lot more detail since I got out of the car,” Leclerc explained. “It was actually an issue coming from the chassis, and nothing that we could have done differently. I started to feel the issue in lap 40 or something like that, and then it got worse, lap after lap after lap, and towards the end we were two seconds off the pace. And the car was just undriveable.”
Leclerc emphasized that the issue was an outlier and should not happen again, but he remained disappointed. He believed that this weekend represented the team’s best opportunity to win a race this season.
“We had one opportunity this year to win a race, which I think was this weekend. The first stint was perfect, the first laps of the second stint were really good as well, and I think we were on pace to try and win that race. The last stint was a disaster when I started to have that issue on the chassis.”
The Monegasque driver also noted that the problem was inconsistent, with the car behaving unpredictably in every corner. Ferrari has yet to secure a victory in the 2025 season, with their only second-place finish coming at Monaco. The fact that Leclerc was competing for a win at the Hungaroring, which is the second-slowest track on the calendar, does little to inspire hope for the rest of the season against dominant McLaren cars.
“What gave me hope of winning is that we were starting first, and with the dirty air it’s a struggle to get past. I think Oscar probably had a bit more pace than me, but couldn’t overtake,” Leclerc added.
He acknowledged that the team is not expecting to win any races in the second half of the season, which adds to the frustration. Leclerc felt that this was a crucial opportunity they needed to seize, but the chassis issue prevented them from doing so.
Additional Challenges and Points Standings
Leclerc’s performance was further complicated by a five-second penalty for erratic driving after he moved under braking while defending the final podium position from Russell. Although he questioned the penalty, he did not express outrage. Instead, he made a subtle comment about Russell’s attitude on the radio.
“I knew I was on the limit, I don’t have much opinion about it,” he said. “I felt like I moved before braking, and then I brake, obviously angling my car towards the apex, which is normally what I do. But I can imagine George being quite vocal on the radio, it’s normally the case.”
Despite the setbacks, Leclerc still earned 12 points, keeping him within 21 points of fourth-placed Russell in the championship. Max Verstappen remains 15 points ahead of him.
In the constructors’ standings, Ferrari, currently the runner-up, has lost four points to Mercedes but still maintains a 24-point lead.
