Charles Leclerc entered the Hungarian Grand Prix with high hopes and a golden opportunity. Starting from pole position, the Ferrari driver looked primed to convert it into a long-awaited victory. But as the checkered flag waved, he found himself off the podium in fourth — a result that left the Monegasque visibly disheartened.
A strong start unravels mid-race
Leclerc’s weekend had begun with promise. After dominating qualifying to secure pole, he led the opening phase of the race and successfully fended off an early charge from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Even during the first round of pit stops, Leclerc retained control of the lead, hinting at a possible lights-to-flag win.
However, things began to shift as Lando Norris, on an alternate one-stop strategy, leapfrogged both Ferraris to take the race lead. From there, Charles Leclerc’s pace started to deteriorate rapidly.
“From around Lap 40 we had a problem with the chassis, so now I’ve had more details about it,” Leclerc explained after the race. “In the car obviously I had no idea what was going on. I mean I had an idea, but it was a wrong idea because I thought it was something that was in our control.”
Losing ground and a costly penalty
As his performance faltered, Leclerc couldn’t hold off Piastri, who breezed past to reclaim second place. The situation worsened when George Russell mounted a late-race charge, overtaking Leclerc for third in a tight battle that also earned the Ferrari driver a five-second penalty for erratic driving — ultimately solidifying his slide to fourth.
“Unfortunately we had an issue on the chassis, so I don’t have much to add on that,” Charles Leclerc added. “It’s just extremely frustrating when you are fighting for a win and when we had the pace that we had at the beginning of the race, and we lose absolutely everything later on.”
A sour note heading into the break
With the Hungarian Grand Prix marking the end of the first half of the 2025 season, Charles Leclerc’s frustration was compounded by the rarity of such a winning opportunity.
“Very disappointed,” he admitted. “I don’t take any positives from this weekend when we ended the weekend like that. When we have one opportunity in a year to win a race, we need to take it and today we didn’t.”
Although Ferrari will investigate the cause of the chassis issue, Leclerc remains adamant that the team missed a rare and crucial shot at victory.