Gary Anderson shoots down George Russell’s controversial take on Charles Leclerc’s Hungaroring struggles

Ferrari’s Hungarian Grand Prix Unravels as Gary Anderson Dismisses George Russell’s Theory on Leclerc’s Struggles

Ferrari endured a challenging and ultimately disappointing race weekend at the 2025 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix, as Charles Leclerc was unable to convert his early dominance into a podium finish. Despite leading for the majority of the 70-lap race, the Monegasque driver saw his hopes for a top-three result vanish in the final stages, highlighting once again the persistent issues plaguing the Scuderia this season.

Leclerc had delivered a surprise in qualifying by securing pole position against all expectations, particularly after McLaren had shown dominant pace in the earlier sessions. At the start of the race, he successfully held off an initial challenge from Oscar Piastri and looked set to fight for the win. However, Ferrari’s technical problems gradually surfaced as the race unfolded.

As the laps progressed, it became apparent that Leclerc was struggling with an issue on his SF-25, and the Maranello-based team instructed him to slow down in order to manage the problem. This led to a significant drop in performance, allowing Lando Norris to take control of the race after opting for an effective one-stop strategy. Leclerc eventually dropped behind both Oscar Piastri and Mercedes driver George Russell.

Russell, trying to make sense of Ferrari’s sudden loss of pace, speculated that the Italian team might have been experimenting with tyre pressures on Leclerc’s car. He also suggested that Ferrari could have been running a reduced engine mode at the end of the main straight to limit excessive wear on the car’s floor plank—an issue that has troubled the team in several races this season.

However, former F1 technical director and veteran analyst Gary Anderson strongly rejected Russell’s interpretation of Ferrari’s performance. Writing in his column for The Telegraph, Anderson labelled the theory as “wacky” and argued that such a strategy would be highly unusual for a team operating at the front of the grid.

According to Anderson, while it is true that Ferrari has faced ongoing issues with plank wear—particularly since the disqualifications of both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton earlier in the season at the Chinese Grand Prix—deliberately compromising race pace in the way Russell described would not be a rational move. He believed that there are far more effective and less extreme technical solutions available to mitigate excessive wear on the floor.

Anderson elaborated that if a team were genuinely worried about plank wear, the more logical step would be to make aerodynamic or suspension adjustments. For example, Ferrari could increase the rear ride height slightly or stiffen the rear suspension setup. While these changes would certainly impact performance, they would not result in the dramatic loss of pace that was seen after Charles Leclerc’s final pit stop.

Regarding the theory about tyre pressures, Anderson argued that increasing the rear pressures would only lead to overheating and a further loss of grip—particularly on a circuit like the Hungaroring, where traction out of slow corners is crucial. He remarked that while Ferrari is no stranger to questionable strategic decisions, he found it implausible that the team would intentionally make such counterproductive changes, and he ultimately concluded that George Russell’s claims lacked substance.

The situation deteriorated further for Leclerc in the closing laps. His pace dropped significantly—by as much as three seconds per lap compared to the leaders—and Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur later admitted that there was genuine concern that the number 16 car might not reach the finish line at all.

Adding insult to injury, when Leclerc attempted to defend his position from the charging Russell, the Monegasque driver was judged to have moved excessively under braking into Turn 1. The race stewards reviewed the incident and handed Leclerc a five-second time penalty for what they described as erratic and unsafe defensive driving. This penalty, combined with the earlier mechanical struggles, compounded what was already a weekend full of frustration and lost opportunity for Ferrari.

In the end, the Hungarian Grand Prix served as another painful reminder of the challenges Ferrari continues to face in the 2025 Formula 1 season—challenges that extend beyond pace and reliability, and into the realm of operational confidence and strategic clarity.