02/08/2025 17:45
Charles Leclerc was left confused after securing a shock pole
position for the Hungarian Grand Prix, noting that he does not
"understand anything". The Ferrari driver stunned the McLarens in
the final seconds of qualifying at the Hungaroring, to clinch a
27th career F1 pole. It came as a surprise to the entire paddock,
with McLaren having been the clear favourites having dominated
throughout free practice. However, when it mattered most, both
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris had no answer to Leclerc, who
revealed he faced real challenges all qualifying. "I mean, today,
I don't understand anything at Formula 1," joked Leclerc.
"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 mean, I definitely did not expect that." Leclerc
rain concern A short spell of rain during Q2 created a change in
grip levels at the circuit, with the track's temperature having
also decreased considerably throughout the session. When the rain
fell, Leclerc was initially concerned, due to having run a low
downforce set-up on his SF-25. Asked if he could feel the grip
levels change, Leclerc said: "Yeah, I could definitely feel it a
lot. I was on the lower side of the downforce, so when the rain
started in Q2 I was just hoping that it wouldn't stay there. "It
didn't, the conditions changed, which made everything very tricky.
And at the end, we were on pole position. "Honestly, I have no
words. Yeah, it's probably one of the best pole positions I've ever
had, because it's the most unexpected for sure."
