Charles Leclerc claimed to be happy with his fourth position in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, but the Ferrari driver was definitely not delighted with a mistake in Q1 that put his session in jeopardy.
Running just behind teammate Sebastian Vettel in qualifying’s first segment, Leclerc spun as the pair exited the final corner and slammed backwards into the outside wall, damaging the rear of his SF90.
The Monegasque was able to limp back to the pits where his Ferrari crew pulled out the stops to repair the stricken car in time for Q2.
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Leclerc was impressed with his team but less so by his own mistake which could have compromised the remainder of his session.
“I’ve been very lucky to go again, I have to thank the team very much for what they’ve done,” Leclerc told Sky F1.
“It was a completely unnecessary mistake at that point of qualie. That’s’ two mistakes in two Grands Prix.
“The first one was ‘acceptable’ I would say but this one is definitely not acceptable. And if I would have stayed in the wall, it would have been a lot worse.
“I need to learn from these mistakes, this is the second in qualie [after Baku] at an unnecessary time. I need to understand, I’ll work on that.”
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