Charles Leclerc offers Ferrari boost in latest F1 victory hunt

Charles Leclerc has pointed to his long-run pace during practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix, stating it sits as a strong omen for his race prospects.

Leclerc ended qualifying in third place behind pole-sitter Lando Norris and Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

However, he has been promoted one spot on the grid and will now line up on the front row after Hamilton was issued a three-place grid penalty for an impeding incident during qualifying.

After the session, Leclerc spoke of the challenges he faced over one lap - however the Monegasque is holding more confidence when it comes to his prospects for the grand prix.

“The long-run pace was actually very, very strong, so that’s good,” he said.

“But again, it’s difficult to take for granted what we’ve seen yesterday because everybody seems to have made a big step forward from yesterday to today. 

“So I expect it to be much tighter tomorrow in the race.”

Ferrari and McLaren have both been in strong form throughout the weekend, with Norris' pole the first time this season Mercedes has not started from the head of the field.

But despite George Russell and Kimi Antonelli taking up positions in sixth and seventh respecitvely, Leclerc still sees the Brackley-based squad as a threat for Sunday. 

“Based on today, Lando seems to be very, very strong, so I’ll say Lando,” Leclerc replied when asked to judge his biggest rival for Sunday.

“But if you look over the course of the season, Mercedes has always been up there, so I do not doubt that they’ll all be in the fight tomorrow as well.”