The weekend of the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix saw a number of strange results on track. Firstly having dominated practice, come qualifying McLaren failed to claim pole position as a highly surprised Charles Leclerc pipped Oscar Piastri by 0.026 of a second.
The Hungaroring has undergone significant upgrades over the past twelve months which included a resurface. This of course throws out of kilter the F1 teams’ historic data from previous years racing there and may go some way to explain why Red Bull failed on Friday night to overcome their setup problems in the simulator back in Milton Keynes.
In qualifying the weather too was quite different. Instead of the usual central European baking hot summer, the afternoon was cloudy and windy and we saw the track temperature fall a whopping 15 degrees clerics from the start of Q1 to mid-way through the final session.
Closest F1 qualifying EVER
The top ten were the closest ever in F1 history, separated by just over half a second, which explains some of the unusual starting positions for Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber and the Aston Martin pair. Even so, this doesn’t explain how the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc came to beat the papaya duo.
Even stranger come the race on Sunday, Leclerc was able to easily hold off the chasing Oscar Piastri during his first two stints, before the SF-25 proved to be something of a Jeckyll and Hyde. The Monegasque driver was a sitting duck when Piastri came on the attack in lap 40 and again several laps later when it was the turn of George Russell to ease past Leclerc into turn one.
Yet the stark loss of pace appeared to something Leclerc had expected as on team radio he raged at the team, referring to discussions they’d had before the Grand Prix. “This is so incredibly frustrating. We’ve lost all competitiveness. You just have to listen to me. I would have found a different way managing those issues. Now it’s just underivable. It’s a miracle if we finish on the podium,” ranted the Monegasque.
In the media pen following the chequered flag and podium celebrations, a disgruntled Leclerc retracted his original comments now claiming the team had discovered a problem with the chassis. When this was put to George Russell, he laughed before remarking, “he’s not going to tell you they were close to being illegal.”
Russell explains Leclerc’s illegal ride height problems
The Mercedes driver explained what Mercedes believed had happened to make Leclerc’s pace fall off a cliff. “We think they were running the car too low to the ground and had to increase the tyre pressure for the last stint because they were using a engine mode which was making the car slower at the end of the straight which is where you have the most amount of plank wear,” observed Russell.
Given Lewis Hamilton was disqualified in China for a ride height infringement and together with radio messages to “lift and coast” – designed to raise the car going into the corner and reduce wear on the plank – Ferrari have previous form with their ride height issues this season.
Yet ex-F1 car designer Gary Anderson has ridiculed Russell’s aberrations. Writing for the Telegraph he says: “What Russell suggested is a bit wacky and farfetched. A team would not reduce performance in this way just to stop plank wear.” Anderson goes on to suggests a better solution is to alter the setup of the car like running a stiffer rear to raise the height.
“When it comes to tyre pressure, again, it seems unlikely. If you put the rear tyre pressure up you are guaranteed to lose performance from the rears overheating,” noted Anderson. F1 teams over the years have been notorious for playing around with very low tyre pressures which improves instant grip, which resulted in Pirelli now mandating minimum tyre pressures for both front and rears.
Ex-F1 technical director calls Russell theory “crazy”
“Doing this on a track where traction is absolutely critical, is crazy. As we’ve seen I the past, Ferrari make some strange decisions, but I do not think for one second Russell is on to anything here.” Anderson admits something strange is going on at Ferrari as evidenced by the fact as everyone else went slower in qualifying as the temperatures fell, Leclerc did the opposite getting quicker in each session. Yet the former Jordan technical director offers no solution to the Ferrar mystery in Hungary, appearing to accept the ‘chassis excuse’ Leclerc offered after the race.
Yet in Leclerc’s radio message, before he is eve passed by Piastri, there is a clear reference to a problem he and the team had previously discussed may occur, together with the fact that Charles believed he had a solution he cold have delivered instead of the Ferrari team’s apparent intervention as his final pit stop.
Given the all too many self inflicted mishaps Ferrari have suffered over the years, the boss of the Scuderia is naturally keen to keep the lid on any further poor publicity. Unfortunately, its difficult to believe everything that comes out from the Maranello based team for this very reason.
What is believable is that by running the SF-25 lower than the others in qualifying, this led to Leclerc’s strange performance. Once having qualified the team cannot change the setup as Anderson suggests on so it is quite believable the team discovered their ride height mistake after qualifying and before the Grand Prix when the cars in parked ferme cannot be touched.
Lelcerc’s radio message gives away the game
Further, the number of actions Leclerc could have taken to affect the performance of the SF-25 are limited. Ass we have heard this year the use of “lift and coast” to protect the plank from excessive wear is something a driver could do to mitigate the situation.
The final nail in the coffin of Anderson’s attempted debunk of Russell’s explanation, are the visuals from the TV broadcast. Early in the race the onboard from Oscar Piastri shows the Ferrari hitting the ground hard at several points around the lap, sending showers of sparks into the air.
Whilst later in the race the car is of course lighter as it burns off the fuel, such is the downforce created the strikes would not diminish much at all. Yet after Leclerc’s final pit stop, onboards from Piastri and Russell who overtook the unfortunate Ferrari driver, appear to suggests the ride height has been adjusted and the only way to do that in a two second pit stop is by increasing the tyre pressures.
Max Verstappen push back from Mekies
The current Formula One world champion is heading for an experience he has not been familiar with since the 2020 season. Come December Max Verstappen will hand over his F1 crown to either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri.
Gone are the hopes for a record equalling fifth consecutive F1 drivers’ championship and after a disappointing weekend in Hungary, Max now believes he won’t win another race this year after he could only manage P8 in qualifying last weekend and after the team made the wrong decision to two stop the Red Bull driver finished the Grand Prix in a disappointing with place.
As often is the case on Friday’s Red Bull’s pre-race car setup decisions were off the mark but unusually the team failed to find the proper correction in the simulator before final practice and qualifying. The team’s technical director, Pierre Wache admitted that “nothing was working” in Hungary and Dr. Helmut Marko revealed this was not the expectations coming into the race weekend in Budapest…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
GR is seemingly always happy to drop close competitors in the soup, isn’t he … but he has the nerve to suggest MV is a bully!
I think it’s time drivers were FINED for suggesting penalties over the radio during a race – and maybe even MORE when suggesting foul play during interviews. This is supposed, after all, to be a SPORT, so sportsmanship should be displayed at all times