Charles Leclerc, Ferrari driver, retracted his frustrated radio messages after the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he suggested that the team had cost him the victory and the podium. Leclerc, who started from the pole position, finished in a disappointing fourth position, losing ground in the final stage of the race. The Ferrari driver, with only five victories in 27 races from the pole position, initially seemed unhappy with the execution of the race strategy by Ferrari, something that had been discussed in the pre-race meetings.
I can feel what we discussed before the race… we need to discuss those things before doing them.
Charles Leclerc
We are going to lose this race with these things. We are losing a lot of time.
Charles Leclerc
Leclerc’s prediction came true. He was overtaken by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Mercedes’ George Russell, losing podium positions. After the race, Leclerc nuanced his comments, suggesting that the car had a problem that caused his drop in pace.This is incredibly frustrating. We have lost all competitiveness. They just have to listen to me, I would have found a different way to handle those problems. Now it’s simply indomitable. Indomitable. It’s a miracle if we finish on the podium.
Charles Leclerc
Leclerc added: “I spoke too quickly, I suppose”. He couldn’t explain the problem, only that Ferrari found it once the race was over.First, I need to retract the words I said on the radio because I thought it came from one thing, but then I got a lot more details since I got out of the car. Actually, it was a chassis problem and nothing we could have done differently. I started feeling the problem on lap 40 or so, 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 simply undrivable.
Charles Leclerc
Leclerc achieved the pole position, and said that his problem in the race was doubly frustrating given that Ferrari has not been competitive this season.I still don’t know how it was caused, but we will investigate it… I think it was quite complicated. Otherwise, I probably would have known and been told. But yes, apparently it wasn’t that obvious in the data. However, it can now definitely be confirmed that there was a problem.
Charles Leclerc
This was a problem and it’s an atypical case. It shouldn’t happen again. I mean, I’m still very disappointed. We had a chance 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 too. I think we were on our way to trying to win that race. The last stint was a disaster when I started having a problem with the chassis.
Charles Leclerc
