Frederic Vasseur stays at Ferrari for 2026 and beyond

Vasseur reveals: 'I thought we wouldn't finish the race'

21:41, 03 Aug

Updated: 22:04, 03 Aug

bySavannah Lenz

Charles Leclerc was very vocal about his issues during the Hungarian Grand Prix. After the race, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur explained what went on.

When asked to explain Leclerc's radio messages, Vasseur told GPBlog and others, "No, no, it was a completely different story about energy management."

Vasseur then clarified, "On first lap of the last stint, he lost something like one second at one stage and perhaps the message that also you interpret, he asked us if we didn't do a mistake on the front wing when we adjusted the front wing, but we lost completely the pace and then it's perhaps a bit of a snowball effect, but at the end of the day, I think from lap 38 to 43, we lost at least eight tenths."

Ferrari stunned by Leclerc's race

Leclerc managed to keep the lead on the first lap and keep the McLaren's in the dirty air. He also was able to keep Oscar Piastri behind after both sets of pitstops. Unfortaunely, during the third stint of his race, his race pace began to drop down. This left a window open for not only Piastri but also George Russell to pass him.

About the issue, Vasseur said, "Well, honestly, the situation was quite strange. We were under control the first 40 laps of the race. We were very in control the first stint. A bit more difficult the second one, but it was still manageable."

George Russell and Charles Leclerc nearly collided at Hungary

He continued, "The last stint was a disaster, very difficult to drive. The balance was not there. And honestly, we don't know exactly what's happened so far."

"It means that we have to investigate if we have something broken on the chassis side but it was at one stage I thought that we will never finish the race, that we can be lucky in this situation to score points of P4 but it's really frustrating for us."

Vasseur then said, "We did the first pole position of the season. The first two stints went pretty well and we lost completely the pace and the pace of the weekend on the last run. It's tough."