Charles Leclerc was left frustrated with tyre difficulties during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, despite placing several spots higher than championship rival Max Verstappen. With Red Bull's Verstappen struggling with power unit issues during Q3, Ferrari appeared to be the firm favourites to secure pole position at the Hungaroring. However, both Ferraris were pipped to top spot by Mercedes' George Russell, whose last-gasp lap secured the Briton's first pole position. Leclerc's teammate, Carlos Sainz, was the lead Ferrari in second place, with the Monegasque driver finishing the session in third. Verstappen ended 10th after being unable to set a representative lap time, whilst his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez failed to get out of Q2, and will start from P11.
Leclerc: We're focusing on ourselves
Speaking after qualifying, Leclerc was asked if he was pleased to finish the qualifying hour several places ahead of Verstappen. He commented that his main concern was his struggles with tyre performance during the session, but he added that he was hopeful that the team could solve the issues ahead of the race. "We are mostly focusing on ourselves; today has not been a great day," said Leclerc. "I've been struggling massively with the tyres and just had a lot of inconsistency with putting the tyres in the right window with those conditions, so I struggled to put a lap together. "We'll look into it. I'm pretty sure we've got the pace in a car to come back to the front a bit more tomorrow, so we'll focus on that and hopefully we have a better Sunday."
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