03/08/2025 13:00
"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.
"It was difficult for us to get to Q2, it was difficult for us to
get to Q3. 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. "At the end of the day, it's pole position. I
definitely did not expect that... It's probably one of the best
pole positions I've ever had because it's the most unexpected for
sure." That was Charles Leclerc's reaction to securing an
improbable pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The words of
the Ferrari driver encapsulated how unexpected the unforeseen
result of qualifying at the Hungaroring was. But it is right to
emphasise, as McLaren boss Andrea Stella did, that in Formula 1,
nothing happens by chance and there is an explanation for
everything. The change in conditions, especially the factors of
wind direction and asphalt temperature, certainly contributed to
the shifts seen during the final runs in Q3. The wind direction
turned 180 degrees between Q2 and the final part of qualifying. At
certain points of the track, the McLaren MCL39 appeared to suffer
the most from these new conditions. This also happened during the
first run in Q3, but Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both still set
times that would have given them the monopoly on the front row of
the grid. However, in the final run, they were too cautious, as
grip and confidence on entering some corners were significantly
lower than in Q2. Further, the temperature of the asphalt also
dropped by as much as ten degrees Celsius, radically changing the
parameters of tyre grip. Adding to that, not only did Leclerc go
all out on his last attempt, from a situation where he had nothing
to lose from P6 at the time, but his preparation for the lap itself
to strike the optimal tyre temperature window was of great
importance, too. Choosing to leave the pit lane as soon as possible
allowed him to prepare his tyres appropriately. With the focus on
the conditions regarding grip, wind direction and asphalt
temperature, he could look for the best working window for the
tyres. As Stella also stated, it is no coincidence that, of all the
cars in the top ten, Leclerc was the only one who managed to
improve on the time of his first run. The Ferrari driver,
therefore, had a significant advantage over all the other drivers
on the track. Although we can expect the exceptionally competitive
Norris and Piastri to come back, they showed in Q1 and Q2 that they
had a lead of about four-tenths of a second over Leclerc, the same
difference that emerged during the three free practice sessions on
the outskirts of Budapest.
