Charles Leclerc surprised the field to grab pole position at the Hungarian GP, and admitted after the session that it surprised even himself.
While Leclerc said that it would be tough to match the McLaren drivers on Friday, the Monegasque stunned to take pole position at the Hungarian GP. Leclerc bested the pair of McLarens to pole in qualifying, with a 1:15.372 beating Oscar Piastri by the narrowest of margins. In the other Ferrari garage, Lewis Hamilton slumped to a disappointing P12.
Speaking to the media, Leclerc admitted pole was a surprise after a difficult qualifying, but warned the chasing pack that he will do “absolutely everything” to stay in P1.
Leclerc on a difficult qualifying session
Leclerc found himself on the preliminaries of the top positions throughout qualifying at the Hungarian GP, as rain, wind, and temperature levels forced adjustment for all. Speaking on this, Leclerc admitted that it was one of the most difficult qualifying sessions of his career.
“I mean, today, I don’t understand anything in Formula 1! Honestly, the whole qualifying has been extremely difficult. When I say extremely difficult, it’s not exaggerating. It was super, super difficult.”
Leclerc stressed that, “It was difficult for us to get to Q2,” before adding later on: “I was also a bit on the lower side of the downforce, so when the rain started in Q2 I was just hoping that it wouldn’t stay there.”
Pole was never on the mind of the Monegasque, as he admitted P3 was the main target: “In Q3 the conditions changed a little bit, everything became a lot trickier, and I knew I just had to do a clean lap to target third.”
Leclerc delighted with surprise pole position
Leclerc’s pole lap at the death of Q3 surprised most, despite Ferrari showing decent pace through the weekend. No less surprised than anyone is Leclerc himself, who was lost for words after his qualifying effort.
“At the end, we are on pole position. Honestly, I have no words. Yeah, it’s probably one of the best pole positions I’ve ever had because it’s the most unexpected for sure.”
Pole position at the Hungarian GP is the 27th of Leclerc’s career, but the first of an up-and-down 2025 for the Ferrari man.
On hoping to hold his lead through Turn 1
Rather ominously, Leclerc has only converted one of his last 15 pole positions into a win – Monaco 2024. However, he has warned his fellow competitors that he will do anything it takes to keep his lead at the start of the Hungarian GP.
“Yeah, I mean the start and Turn 1 will be key. I have no idea how it will go, but one thing for sure is that I’ll do absolutely everything in order to keep that first place. If we manage to do that, then that should make our life easier for the rest of the race.”
