Following his sensational lap in Saturday's qualifying which saw Charles Leclerc claim a shock pole position for Ferrari, the Monegasque endured a heartbreaking result at the Hungarian Grand Prix despite his impressive pace during his first two stints of the race. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo delivers his latest analysis in his column branded as F1MATHS.
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Well I wasn't even expecting Q3 so this is an overachievement..
Hamilton's post-session comments weren't exactly enlightening. Waiting to hear what Leclerc has to say. He was very mad on the radio about Sainz impeding him on the prep lap
Does anyone have a clip of Leclerc's final lap? I saw the first sector which looked pretty bad but then my feed cut out.
Well I wasn't even expecting Q3 so this is an overachievement..
Hamilton's post-session comments weren't exactly enlightening. Waiting to hear what Leclerc has to say. He was very mad on the radio about Sainz impeding him on the prep lap
Does anyone have a clip of Leclerc's final lap? I saw the first sector which looked pretty bad but then my feed cut out.
Just messy like all the other onboards, understeer on entry with oversteer on exit.
Truth be told, I rate Leclerc extremely highly so I did not expect Lewis to beat him this season. Primarily because he came off a very weak 2024 so it was tough to know if it was legitimate decline or he was just completely out of it being the last season with Mercedes and all.
Unfortunately though, this season has been equally terrible with the exception of a few flashes here and there, so signs are pointing more towards decline. I would still like to see how he does in 2026, but Lewis has been looking so depressed the whole season, it doesn't seem like he has any hope 2026 will be better. There's very little confidence and, at least from the outside, it doesn't feel like there's good driver-team chemistry. Not anywhere near to what we saw with Mercedes/Bono.
In any case, I don't agree that this taints his reputation. Everybody declines at some point. Michael's Mercedes stint didn't invalidate his legendary achievements and likewise, if this ends up being the pace with which we say goodbye to Lewis from the sport, it wont take away anything from his legacy.
Wonder what Ferrari will do when both Charles and Lewis leave in 2027. Ollie sure, who is the second driver then? Even making it to SQ3 was a miracle for Charles given this awful car. It's depressing how 2024 ended compared to the sh*tshow of a season 2025 has been. First season without a win in this regulation set where you started with the fastest car, just embarassing.
I hope Charles leaves to go to a team with a WDC worthy car, because Marinello won't be doing that any time soon.
