Leclerc held ‘much bigger’ fear during practice smash

Charles Leclerc has admitted he expected his collision damage to be “much bigger” when he spun during FP2 in Hungary.

Leclerc lost control of his car through the high-speed Turn 4 during the session and collided with the wall.

While the damage was significant enough to stop Leclerc from taking further part in the session, there did not appear to be major structural damage to the SF24 that would usually be associated with such a high-speed impact.

Speaking after the session, Leclerc acknowledged he expected the damage to be far greater than the end result.

“When I lost it, I thought the damage would be much bigger,” he said. “The damage is not that big but obviously enough to not continue the session and that’s not what you want. 

“What happened is that I ran a bit wide on the kerb, I got a snap in the middle of Turn 4, and lost the car on the kerb. It was my mistake, now it’s all about bouncing back.

“Until now, the car was pretty good. The feeling is getting better, we had a more consistent day compared to the last three or four weekends, so that’s a positive.”

Leclerc 'not getting carried away'

Leclerc has endured a difficult run of form of late, scoring one top 10 finish across the last four races.

The Monegasque's season has endured a downward spiral ever since his victory on home soil in late May.

While he hopes to bounce back in Hungary this weekend, he conceded its direct rivals, and McLaren in particular, appear too quick to compete against.

“Unfortunately with the mistake, the mileage was cut short. Hopefully, we will recover that in FP3.”

“I wouldn’t get carried away too quickly but the feeling is good. We still seem to be behind McLaren, McLaren seem to be super strong this weekend. 

“The feeling is good, that’s always a good sign. Now we’ve got to put everything together and hopefully we will do that.”