Lewis Hamilton edges Charles Leclerc in Ferrari’s Hungary race pace comparison. Hamilton vs Leclerc Hungary pace gap among smallest on F1 grid.

Lewis Hamilton held a marginal 0.028-second race-pace advantage over Charles Leclerc at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix, giving Ferrari the second-tightest team-mate comparison in the field. Only Aston Martin’s pairing of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso was separated by less across the Budapest race.

The remarkably small Ferrari Hungary race pace gap is particularly notable because Charles Leclerc finished fourth, one position ahead of fifth-placed Lewis Hamilton. The comparison therefore adds another layer to the final classification: although Charles Leclerc secured the stronger result, Lewis Hamilton possessed a fractional advantage in the underlying race-pace figures.

Ferrari Hungary race pace gap was only 0.028 seconds

Lewis Hamilton was placed 0.014 seconds on the faster side of Ferrari’s team average, while Charles Leclerc was 0.014 seconds on the opposite side. Because the two figures are measured symmetrically around the centre point, the full difference between the Ferrari drivers was 0.028 seconds.

That margin is small enough to portray the two Ferrari drivers as effectively closely matched rather than suggesting a decisive performance advantage. Race-pace averages can be influenced by tyre condition, traffic, time spent in clean air and neutralised periods, so a difference of only a few hundredths should not be treated as evidence that one driver was consistently superior throughout every phase of the Grand Prix.

Nevertheless, the result supports the view that outright pace was not the main factor separating Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in the finishing order. The British driver’s five-second pit-lane speeding penalty contributed to his fifth-place result, while Charles Leclerc crossed the line fourth and later recorded the fastest lap on fresh Soft tyres.

Hamilton and Leclerc among the closest team-mates in Hungary

Aston Martin produced the narrowest comparison of the race. Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were separated by just 0.004 seconds, with each driver placed only 0.002 seconds away from the team’s centre point. Ferrari followed with its 0.028-second difference.

The gap then increased substantially at McLaren. Lando Norris held a 0.552-second advantage over Oscar Piastri, although Oscar Piastri’s retirement means the comparison requires additional caution. Carlos Sainz was 0.698 seconds ahead of Alexander Albon at Williams, while Kimi Antonelli held an advantage of 0.880 seconds over George Russell at Mercedes.

Further down the list, Esteban Ocon led Oliver Bearman by 0.982 seconds in the Haas comparison. Max Verstappen’s advantage over Isack Hadjar was 1.106 seconds, while Nico Hülkenberg led Gabriel Bortoleto by 1.128 seconds. Liam Lawson was 1.188 seconds ahead of Arvid Lindblad, and the largest difference belonged to Alpine, where Pierre Gasly’s figure was 1.626 seconds better than Franco Colapinto’s.

Complete 2026 Hungarian GP team-mate race pace data

Why the Ferrari comparison matters

Ferrari’s near-even figures contrast sharply with most of the grid. Eight of the ten teams recorded a full team-mate difference greater than half a second, whereas Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc remained separated by less than three hundredths.

The data does not explain the causes of Ferrari’s fluctuating performance or establish which driver delivered the better overall Grand Prix. It does, however, underline how little separated the pair on representative race pace. In a weekend when Ferrari left the Hungaroring without a podium despite its strong Friday form, the Hamilton-Leclerc comparison suggests the team had two closely matched drivers but did not convert that balance into the result it had targeted.