Charles Leclerc was truly magical during the qualifying session for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Let’s break down the events step by step. Ferrari showed a rather competitive car in the third practice session, certainly the fastest among all the teams behind the McLaren team. However, during the first two segments of the qualifying session, the Maranello team struggled significantly and faced considerable challenges. They couldn’t manage to get the tires up to the proper temperature window, and as a result, the grip levels offered by the Ferrari SF-25 were quite low and insufficient. Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton didn’t manage to get the most out of the tires, but Charles Leclerc did succeed in doing so. Then the magic truly happened in the decisive Q3 session, a moment that even surprised the Monegasque driver himself.
An impressive Charles Leclerc made all the difference in the world. Track conditions changed considerably and quite noticeably in the final part of the qualifying session. The two McLaren cars, driven by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, failed to maintain their spectacular performance levels. In sharp contrast, car number 16 suddenly came alive and started to perform at a much higher level thanks to the remarkable driving of the Monegasque driver. The first and primary goal of his lap was to avoid any mistakes that could compromise the effort. He pushed the car to the absolute limit in the first two sectors of the circuit and then sought the perfect, ultimate lap in the third sector, compensating for the worn tires with pure talent and precision driving.
Using our usual telemetry comparison method, we put under the microscope the lap that earned the Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc the pole position, comparing it directly against the lap of Oscar Piastri. This detailed analysis helps us understand the key points where the former Alfa Romeo driver was able to make the critical difference, beating the Australian by just a razor-thin margin of 0.026 seconds. This outstanding performance was by no means a coincidence or accident. There is one important aspect of this lap and car performance that we have discussed repeatedly in the last few days.
The Hungaroring is a very technical circuit where every corner entry, every well-managed steering rotation, and every precise placement of the car counts for significant lap time gains. The track demands exceptional consistency and absolute control, especially in those constant-radius corners where the car remains under lateral load for a prolonged period of time. It is exactly in these specific corners—such as turns 1, 2, 5, and 14—that you immediately see which drivers can build up lap time. The same is true for those who struggle to keep the car stable and predictable under these conditions.
In direct comparison with the McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc showed a Ferrari car that was capable of maintaining the competitive pace, especially during the initial and middle parts of the lap. Slightly more difficulties appeared in the final section of the lap, but the Monegasque driver managed to keep those issues under tight control. The car’s response was very consistent throughout the lap, particularly at the rear end of the car, which, unlike in the free practice sessions, on the pole lap followed the front axle much more faithfully and responsively.
Looking closely at the data, it becomes very clear that Charles Leclerc approached the braking zone of turn 1 with noticeably more speed, approximately +6 kilometers per hour faster, thanks to the fact that the Ferrari SF-25 generates less aerodynamic drag compared to the McLaren MCL39. He placed the front end of the car very precisely into the corner, had excellent mid-corner rotation, and maximized traction on the exit. Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, braked slightly later, which compromised his exit speed and cost him approximately 0.024 seconds.
From the very first practice sessions, the Ferrari driver had complained about difficulties in keeping the tires within the correct operating temperature window, a problem that naturally affected the very first meters of the circuit during the lap. In Q3, Ferrari chose the correct timing for the push lap, which allowed Charles Leclerc to manage the outlap more calmly and within the parameters that had been studied overnight during simulator analysis. In the first sector, in fact, he gained 59 thousandths of a second over the Australian driver Oscar Piastri.
A positive aspect for the Ferrari SF-25 emerged at the chicane between turns 6 and 7. Here, the work done by the Ferrari engineers between Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 paid clear dividends: Charles Leclerc was able to optimize the braking and turn-in phase, improved trail-braking technique, and maintained a firmer front end during the sudden change of direction. He gained an advantage of +5 kilometers per hour at mid-corner and got back on the throttle a few meters earlier than Oscar Piastri.
The second sector, which is dominated by a sequence of quick and frequent direction changes, demands a car that is both agile and responsive at the front but also capable of absorbing lateral stress without unsettling or destabilizing the rear end of the car. In this section, the Ferrari SF-25’s speed curve consistently stayed higher than that of the McLaren MCL39: the Maranello team’s driver Charles Leclerc always managed to carry more speed through every single direction change.
The only weak point during the lap was a slight understeer that Charles Leclerc had to manage actively with the brake, whereas Oscar Piastri modulated only the throttle pedal. However, this did not cost the Ferrari driver any significant time; on the contrary, he gained about one and a half tenths of a second in this sector. In the final part of the lap, the time gap shrank somewhat. At turn 13, Charles Leclerc experienced some rear instability, with the rear of the car slipping at a crucial moment when maximum grip and adhesion were needed to finalize the car’s rotation.
He lost approximately 0.084 seconds in this part, but despite this, he was able to limit the damage effectively. At turn 14, he still showed some hesitation, but on the exit of the corner, Charles got back on the throttle much earlier than Oscar Piastri, gaining 0.027 seconds—exactly the margin needed to place himself ahead on the timesheets. Overall, this analysis confirms a Ferrari car with great potential, which, if fully extracted and exploited, can also pose a serious challenge to the very strong McLaren team. Tomorrow’s race will be difficult, but today Charles Leclerc can enjoy and celebrate the excellent work done by himself and the Ferrari team.
— see video above —
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