Leclerc frustrated as Ferrari’s Hungarian GP pace fails to match expectations

Leclerc left questioning Ferrari’s inconsistency

Charles Leclerc described Ferrari’s Hungarian Grand Prix as “disappointing” after a weekend that promised far more than the final result delivered. The Monegasque started from the front row following a strong showing across the event, but immediately lost ground when the race began, falling to fifth on the opening lap.

He later moved up to fourth after Lewis Hamilton was handed a five-second penalty. Even so, Ferrari’s result remained well short of what Leclerc believed the team should have achieved. The outcome also reinforced a pattern that has become increasingly difficult for the Scuderia to explain: its expectations and actual performance have repeatedly failed to align.

“It’s a disappointing weekend, and I think the thing that is standing out for me after the last three races is that out of the last three races, there were two races where we were expecting to struggle and we finished first and second,” Leclerc said.

“In the race where we expected to do well, we finished fourth and fifth.”

Ferrari searching for answers

The lack of consistency has affected both Ferrari drivers. Hamilton has stopped using the simulator to test race set-ups after finding that its findings did not match the behaviour of the car. Leclerc said the problem was not isolated to one side of the garage, with both Ferraris displaying the same unpredictable pattern.

“Both cars seem to have that tendency of being good in the weekend where we expected to struggle and struggling in the weekend where we thought we would be good,” he explained. “So this has to be understood.”

Ferrari’s pre-race pace had suggested a genuine opportunity, making the failure to convert it particularly frustrating. The team had also entered the weekend with confidence after recent victories for Leclerc at Silverstone and Hamilton in Barcelona. For further context on Ferrari’s expectations before the event, see Hamilton’s assessment of Ferrari’s 2026 title hopes.

A costly start and uneven stints

Leclerc believes the poor launch was especially damaging at the Hungaroring, where overtaking is difficult because of the narrow layout and winding corners. Track position therefore carried significant weight from the opening metres.

“The start again, we paid the price a lot today with the start,” he said. While the hard-tyre opening stint was “not bad” and the final stint on soft tyres was “pretty good”, the race still contained too many fluctuations.

“That’s really where we need to work: try and find that consistency with this car,” Leclerc added. His next opportunity to turn Ferrari’s expectations into results will come at Zandvoort in September.