“This is the day when I no longer understand motorsport,” Charles Leclerc admitted honestly during the post-qualifying press conference, as he tried to comprehend where his pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix had come from. The Monegasque driver did not feel he had delivered a particularly spectacular flying lap—certainly not one of those trademark efforts he is known for, which usually allow him to position the Scuderia Ferrari car higher than it realistically should be on the grid. Yet, the lap turned out to be enough to beat the McLaren drivers and secure the first position on the starting grid.
This surprising and impressive result came as the consequence of a mix of key elements: first and foremost, the pure driving talent of Charles Leclerc, and secondly, the effective technical changes made to the Ferrari SF-25 single-seater. “We changed something between Q2 and Q3, but I can’t tell you what it was,” Charles Leclerc revealed during the press conference. Among the factors that helped him regain confidence behind the wheel were also the latest updates introduced on the car. The upgraded floor that was brought to the Austrian Grand Prix gave Leclerc a renewed sense of security, and since then, excluding the less successful Silverstone weekend, he has consistently delivered strong performances.
In addition to the floor update, the newly introduced suspension system is also playing an important role. While it cannot be described as a miracle fix, it is nonetheless producing positive effects.
The role of the new suspension component
“Before the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, I had to choose an extremely aggressive setup to try and extract performance during qualifying,” Charles Leclerc explained. “However, that made the car unstable and inconsistent, so it was hard to stay at the top of my game. The car was unpredictable, and chasing that final tenth in Q3 became extremely difficult. Whenever I pushed beyond the limit, I paid a very high price in terms of performance.”
According to Charles Leclerc, with the component introduced in Spa, the car now aligns more naturally with his driving style—especially during qualifying, when he begins to push to the limit. “The car now puts me in a much more reasonable performance window,” he continued, “and it allows me to explore the limit more confidently, without losing much. That’s crucial for me, since qualifying has been my biggest struggle this year—even though in past seasons it used to be my strength.”
Looking ahead, the race—which is expected to be affected by rain—will serve as another important test to evaluate how the new suspension behaves under wet conditions. Furthermore, Charles Leclerc will be back behind the wheel on Wednesday for additional testing sessions. These will be vital to gather more data and fine-tune the setup in preparation for the second half of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
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