Charles Leclerc highlights perplexing Ferrari trend after Hungary letdown

Charles Leclerc has pointed to a baffling pattern emerging at Ferrari after the Scuderia's disappointing fourth- and fifth-place finishes at the Hungarian Grand Prix, a race weekend where the SF-26 was expected to thrive.

The Italian team has built a strong chassis this season, arguably the quickest in F1, and its overall package has proven well-suited to high-downforce requirements.

It has allowed the Maranello-based squad to compete at the sharp end, despite its power unit being a shade behind that of Mercedes.

That combination, on paper, should excel at tight, twisty venues like the Hungaroring and Monaco, where long straights and raw power matter far less than traction and cornering precision.

By contrast, power-sensitive circuits such as Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps, with their extended full-throttle sections, were expected to expose energy-deployment limitations.

The reality over the past three rounds has been the exact opposite. Leclerc won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, with Lewis Hamilton completing a one-three.

A fortnight later in Belgium, Leclerc finished second and Hamilton fourth. Then came Budapest, a circuit tailor-made for the SF-26's strengths, and both cars finished outside the podium places.

"No, definitely not," Leclerc told media, including RacingNews365, when it was put to him that he cannot be happy with the result.

"It's a disappointing weekend, and I think the thing that is standing out for me after the last three races is that out of the last three races, there were two races where we were expecting to struggle, and we finished first and second. And in the race where we expected to do well, we finished fourth and fifth."

The Monegasque driver pointed out that it is not just one side of the Ferrari garage that is suffering from this bewildering trend.

"So there's clearly a tendency, and it's not that one car is doing well because he's doing exceptionally in the car; both cars seem to have that tendency, of being good on the weekend where we expected to struggle and struggling on the weekend where we thought we would be good," he added. "So this is to be understood."

Hamilton qualified second at the Hungaroring, just 12 milliseconds behind polesitter Lando Norris, but a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri in Q3 dropped him to fifth. Leclerc lined up on the front row but, like his team-mate, lost positions off the line on a circuit notorious for offering precious few overtaking opportunities.

Team principal Fred Vasseur identified the start as one of several execution failures that left Ferrari chasing the race from a compromised position. Leclerc echoed those sentiments, concluding: "It's also true that with a good start, things could have looked very different, because on a track like that, there's not much overtaking."