Leclerc ends Ferrari barren run with stunning pole ahead of McLarens
Excelling on a circuit that on Thursday he had described as his worst of the year, the 27-year-old Monegasque clocked a best lap of one minute and 15.372 seconds to beat the champion team which had dominated every previous practice session.
"Wow, wow!, Mama Mia!" exclaimed Leclerc after his beautifully-judged late lap on Saturday put him top in windy conditions at the Hungaroring and claim his first pole of the season for the Italian team.
"Today, I don't understand anything about F1! The whole of qualifying has been so extremely difficult – and when I say that I am not exaggerating.
"It was super difficult for us to get to Q2 and Q3, in Q3 the conditions changed a little bit and everything became a lot trickier and I knew I had to just do a clean lap to target third.
"But at the end of the day, it's pole position and I definitely did not expect that. Honestly, I just don't have any words for this. It's one of my best poles and the most unexpected."
While series leader Oscar Piastri and the Australian's McLaren team-mate and title rival Lando Norris found themselves unable to cope with changing conditions in the final minutes, Leclerc improved his lap time to snatch his unexpected pole.
It was his first at the Hungaroring, his first this year and first since last year's Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku as well as the 27th of his career. It was Ferrari's first pole in Hungary since Sebastian Vettel in 2017.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fifth ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll, the pair enjoying their best qualifying of the season, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto seventh ahead of Red Bull's four-time champion Max Verstappen and the two Racing Bulls rookies Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar.
- Hamilton frustrated -
While Leclerc celebrated his and Ferrari's success, team-mate and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton struggled to swallow his disappointment after qualifying 12th and being knocked out in Q2.
"I'm useless," said the 40-year-old Briton. "Absolutely useless. The team has no problem. You've seen the car on pole so they probably need to change driver."
Hamilton's frustration as he fights to find form after moving to Ferrari this year was clear as he ducked into the team motor home without removing his helmet.
But Leclerc had proved the potential of the Ferrari car with their recent upgrades package, even in what proved to be challenging changing conditions.
"I could feel it was changing a lot and I was on the lower side of the downforce so, when the rain started in Q2, I was hoping that it wouldn't stay for long," said Leclerc.
"It didn't but the conditions changed which made everything very tricky and at the end we were on pole position!"
Looking ahead to the race, Leclerc said: "The start and Turn One will be key, but I have no idea how it will go. One thing for sure is that I will do absolutely everything in order to keep that first place!
"If we manage to do that then that should make our life easier for the rest of the race."
Piastri said he had been unable to improve due to a change of wind direction in Q3.
"Charles has been quick all weekend and even this morning, he was closer than we expected," he said.
"Things just changed a little bit -- and I guess he did a very good job.
"Well done to him, but I wasn't expecting to be second to a Ferrari this weekend! He's done a good job and it'll be a fun race tomorrow."
Norris added: "Charles did a good job on the last lap. He probably risked a bit more in these conditions. The wind changed a lot and it really seemed to punish us in a bigger way.
"I mean not too many complaints. It seems we both thought we did some good laps at the end -- and we were just slow, so there's nothing to complain about."
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The Australian
7 hours ago
- The Australian
Oscar Piastri finishes second in the Hungarian Grand Prix
Australia's Oscar Piastri will head into Formula One's annual Summer break with his lead in the world drivers' championship reduced to single figures after he finished a close runner-up to his McLaren teammate Lando Norris in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Once again, Piastri came off second best after Norris's engineers used a superior race strategy, stopping just once to change tyres while Piastri pitted twice at the Hungaroring circuit on the outskirts of Budapest. With each pit stop taking around 20 seconds, Piastri saw his commanding eight second lead over Norris turned into a 12 second deficit when he put on a second set of hard compound tyres 24 laps from the end of the race. With fresher rubber, Piastri was able to slash the margin to Norris to less than a second with four laps to go but couldn't get past his English teammate on the tight track, despite making a late lunge on the final lap that almost brought the two cars together. In the end, he had to settle for second spot, his 12th podium finish in 14 races this season. 'I pushed as hard as I could. I saw Lando going for a one (stop strategy) so I knew I was going to have to overtake on track, which is easier said than done around here,' Piastri said. 'Tried a few things; it was a gamble either way and unfortunately, we were just on the other side of it. 'The team did a great job, the car really came alive in the second half of the race - and the car has been great all weekend. Looking forward to taking some time off. 'I think I needed to be a couple of tenths closer, and it was going to take a mistake from Lando to achieve that. You never want to try and save it for the next lap and it never comes, so I thought I would at least try, but not quite.' Lando Norris was under pressure from Oscar Piastri in the closing laps Finishing second wasn't all bad news for the 24-year-old Australian because he still leads the championship standings by nine points, with Norris in second spot and looming as his only realistic rival for the crown. Heading into the month-long break with 10 races to go when the season resumes, Piastri's 284 points tally is seven more than Max Verstappen had at the stage last year. The Dutchman only won two of the last 10 races but still managed to win his fourth title in 2024 so Piastri remains in a strong position heading into the back end of the season. 'There's some things to analyse with the team, but overall, I thought it was a good day.' Piastri said. 'We just need to keep doing mostly what we've been doing. 'I think the pace has been very good. My execution of races has been good as well. It's going to be a tight battle all the way to the end.' Despite the time advantage he gained from only taking one stop, Norris was struggling to hold off the fast-finishing Piastri over the close laps because his tyres were degrading quickly so had to drive a great race to win . 'I'm dead, it was tough,' he said. 'We weren't really planning on a one-stop at the beginning but after the first lap it was kind of our only option to get back into things. 'It was tough in the final stint with Oscar catching. I was pushing flat out so my voice has gone a little bit. It feels good and rewarding a little more because of that.' Having to nurse his tyres through the last 40 laps, Norris said he believed he'd make it to the chequered flag, which was waved by Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose. 'I didn't think it would probably get us to win, I thought it would get us into second' Norris said. 'I knew if I had some clean air and I could push, I could maybe make things work and that's what we did. 'It's always a bit of a gamble for these kinds of things but it also requires no mistakes, good laps, good strategy, all these things and that's what we had today so I'm very happy.' Oscar nearly got past Lando Norris on the last lap On his world championship battle with his teammate, Norris said: 'We're so tightly fought it's hard to say that momentum is on anyone's side, but we're fighting hard both of us and it's fun, it's tough but fun racing with Oscar.' George Russell finished third for Mercedes to retain fourth place in the championship, albeit 112 points behind Piastri. Verstappen finished ninth, missing the podium for the fourth race in a row, the first time he's done that since 2017. He remains third, 97 points behind the Australian, but says he had no hope of winning the title because the McLarens are just too fast. Saturday's win in Hungary was McLaren's 200th Grand Prix victory all-time, and their seventh one-two finish in 14 races this season. The British team leads the constructors' championship by a mind-boggling 299 points. 'It's great for us as a team and another one-two and our 200th win in Formula 1,' Norris said. 'Credit to Oscar, he put up a good charge and I just about held on, so I look forward to many more of these.'
Herald Sun
8 hours ago
- Herald Sun
Conspiracy theory twist after Charles Leclerc's radio blow-up at Ferrari
Don't miss out on the headlines from F1. Followed categories will be added to My News. Charles Leclerc slammed his own team in a blistering radio message at the Hungarian Grand Prix as his frustration with Ferrari's strategy calls continued. Leclerc took a surprise pole position at the Hungaroring and would have been aiming to at least finish on the podium in the main race. Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. The 27-year-old from Monaco was furious over team radio during the race, blaming Ferrari for an unmentioned issue with his car. Leclerc started the race superbly, leading for the first 20 laps before his first pit stop to give him hope of victory. But he bizarrely fell well off the pace in his final stint, getting overtaken by George Russell, who snuck onto the podium behind race winner Lando Norris, who benefited from a one-stop strategy to beat Oscar Piastri. 'This is so incredibly frustrating,' Leclerc raged in a lengthy team radio message to Ferrari you can watch above. 'We have lost all competitiveness. 'You just had to listen to me, I would have found a different way of managing those issues. 'Now it's just undrivable. Undrivable. It's a miracle if we finish on the podium.' He did walk back his comments after the race, saying his dramatic drop off in pace in his final stint was due to a chassis issue with his car. 'First of all, I need to take back the words I've said on the radio,' Leclerc said post-race. 'Because I thought that it was coming from one thing but then I got a lot more details since I got out the car, and it was actually an issue coming from the chassis, and nothing that we could have done differently. It was a tough day at the office for Charles Leclerc. (Photo by) Leclerc's pace dropped off dramatically in the second half of the race. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos) 'I started to feel the issue in Lap 40, or something like that, and it got worse lap after lap after lap. Towards the end, we were two seconds off the pace and the car was just undrivable. 'I repeat myself, but this was an issue, and it's an outlier. It shouldn't ever happen again. I'm still very disappointed 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 in pace to try and win that race. 'The last stint was a disaster when I started to have that issue.' Theory Ferrari tried to avoid DQ George Russell, who overtook Leclerc late in the race, floated the theory Ferrari were using a specific engine mode and raising tyre pressure to look after the plank underneath Leclerc's car, slowing him down to avoid a potential disqualification. 'I saw how close he was, something was not right,' Russell explained. 'The only think we can think is that they were running the car too close to the ground and they had to increase the tyre pressure for the last stint, because they were using an engine mode which makes the engine slower at the end of the straight, which is where you have the most amount of plank wear.' Both Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix for excessive plank wear — an issue Ferrari have had to manage throughout the season. If the 10mm plank wears down more than 1mm during a race, the car is disqualified. Sky Sports analyst Anthony Davidson noticed sparks flying from underneath Leclerc's car at the start of the race. 'It's really hard for all the teams to get right,' Davidson said. Did Ferrari make Charles Leclerc's car slower he didn't get disqualified? (Photo by) 'You want it for qualifying but then you dump a load of fuel, around 100kg, go into it heavier with colder tyres. You can do a lot of damage to plank wear. 'When you come to the final pit stop and they're worried about the car being too low, therefore the plank wear being too high … 'He comes in. The next set of tyres going on, if they're boosted pressures, it plays havoc with grip. It's a good case study from George. It's funny how the teams analyse each other. 'They've got all the data and they knew exactly what was going on with Leclerc's straight-line speed. 'I was in the pitlane and I said it would be hard for Leclerc to be overtaken because he's been quick all weekend down the straight. But he was like a sitting duck which was a real surprise to me. 'The other teams have seen the data. They have seen the straight line speed drop throughout the race. At maximum speed you are doing most downforce and the biggest damage to the plank. Charles Leclerc started on pole position but missed the podium. (Photo by Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP) 'The set of tyres which went on might have had unwanted pressure, they overheat quicker, and there goes your grip.' 'It was a preventative measure,' Bernie Collins said on Sky Sports. 'Raising tyre pressure raises the ride height, that's why you get less plank wear. 'It's very small but with these cars millimetres make a difference. 'That is a preventive measure, it's a way of preventing the plank hitting so much. They can see how much the plank is contacting on the earlier stints. They can take the pace for the earlier stints but maybe not the whole race. 'George mentioned maybe they turned down the engines so the car is not so fast. If the car is not so fast on the straight, you take off downforce, and the rear of the car will lift up. 'Both methods will prevent the plank being in contact with the ground. Leclerc appeared to hint at the plank wear issue on radio late in the race, saying: 'I can feel what we discussed before the race. We need to discuss those things, before doing those. 'We are going to lose this race with these things. We are losing so much time.' Leclerc ultimately missed the podium and finished fourth — he has 27 career pole positions but has only converted those into a race wins five times. Leclerc and Hamilton have repeatedly clashed with their race engineers over team radio, disagreeing about strategy decisions, tyre choices or being frustrated about being spoken to during key parts of the race. Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur signed a multi-year contract extension with the team last week. Lewis Hamilton sounds like a broken man Fans were also concerned for Lewis Hamilton after his own dejected message to his Ferrari colleagues. Hamilton had a nightmare Hungarian Grand Prix today, finishing in a disappointing 12th. The seven-time world champion failed to pick up any points and sounded like a broken man over the team radio post-race. Hamilton said: 'Really sorry about this weekend guys, for losing you points.' He also reportedly sat in his car for some time after parking it up. BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - AUGUST 03: Twelfth placed Lewis Hamilton after the Hungarian Grand Prix. (Photo by) It comes after the Brit's woeful qualifying session yesterday that saw him exit in Q2 while teammate Leclerc secured a shock pole. Hamilton again sounded crestfallen over the team radio, saying: 'It's me every time. I'm useless, absolutely useless. 'The team have no problem. You've seen the car's on pole so we probably need to change driver.' Told by a member of the Ferrari team that his assessment was wrong, Hamilton replied: 'It clearly is. I just drove terribly. It is what it is.' Fans were left shocked by Hamilton's comments over the weekend, with one saying: 'Champions apologise even when they don't have to. That's why he's different.' Hamilton is yet to finish on the podium since making the move from Mercedes this season, while Leclerc has five podiums this year but is still chasing his first win of the season. — With The Sun Originally published as Conspiracy theory twist after Charles Leclerc's radio blow-up at Ferrari
The Australian
9 hours ago
- The Australian
Oscar Piastri second in qualifying for Hungarian Grand Prix
After dominating every practice session, McLaren were left dumbfounded on Saturday when changing weather conditions left them struggling as Ferrari's Charles Leclerc snatched a stunning late pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Series leader Oscar Piastri and his teammate and title rival Lando Norris had topped every outing on Friday and Saturday morning, but they had no answer when required to improve their pace in the final seconds of a close battle for pole. 'I think the wind changed a lot,' said Piastri, who qualified second on the grid for Sunday's race. 'It always sounds so pathetic, blaming things on the wind, but the wind basically did a 180 from Q1 to Q3, so it just meant a lot of the corners felt completely different. 'My first lap in Q3 felt pretty terrible because I wasn't used to it and then I thought the second lap was better — but it was even slower. 'It's so difficult to judge in those conditions — and maybe not the best execution. I was a bit surprised that we couldn't go quicker than that. Second is still a decent spot to start. We'll see what we can do tomorrow.' Norris, who is 16 points behind Piastri in the championship standings after 13 of this year's 24 races, said he felt the McLaren drivers had been too cautious in the changing conditions. 'I think Charles did a good job on the last lap and he probably risked a bit more in these conditions,' said the British driver. 'The wind changed a lot and it really seemed to punish us in a bigger way it seems. 'I mean not too many complaints. It seems we both thought we did some good laps at the end and we were just slow, nothing to complain of. It's a long lap with many corners and so it's tricky. 'In Q2, we showed how quick we can go and our advantage, but as soon as the wind changed everything went away and the last sector became even trickier.' Norris added that he still held hopes for a good result to make inroads on Piastri's advantage in the title race. 'I want to go forwards and I want to win,' said Norris. 'If I do that then I get points. I think it's going to be an exciting race and I would expect us to have a bit more pace than Charles so I'm looking forward to it.' With just 0.543 seconds separating Leclerc from 10th placed rookie Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls, Saturday's qualifying was one of the closest sessions in Formula One history, bringing Leclerc his first pole in Hungary, his and Ferrari's first of the season and the 27th of his career. He will start Sunday's race with Piastri second and Norris third, ahead of Mercedes' George Russell - the top four were separated by just 0.053 seconds - and the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto seventh ahead of Red Bull's four-time champion Max Verstappen and the two Racing Bulls rookies Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar. Read related topics: Weather
