Charles Leclerc says something “was feeling a bit weird” during the final stages of qualifying in Hungary after a subdued session for the Ferrari driver.
Leclerc, who has scored a season-best seven pole positions, trailed team-mate Carlos Sainz through both Q3 runs at the Hungaroring on Saturday.
Leclerc was shuffled down to third place in the closing moments as he and Sainz were overhauled by Mercedes driver George Russell, who claimed a maiden pole.
“I struggled massively, especially in Q3,” said Leclerc. “In Q1 and Q2 I felt quite good, we were doing good steps in the right direction, but then in Q3 I don’t know what happened.
“The track changed a little bit, the sun came out, and suddenly the tyres were definitely not in the right window.
“I struggled a lot with inconsistency, I did the first lap in Q3 that was quite slow and then the second lap that was more or less OK, but we paid a little bit the price of not having the tires in the right window.
“We need to analyse because there was something that was feeling a bit weird. We will look into it because the feeling was just not good.”
Leclerc is optimistic that the situation won’t be replicated in Sunday’s race.
“On my side I struggled with tires today but tomorrow the race is going to be a completely different thing,” he said.
“So quite a bit of work tonight to understand in which direction it’s going to go for tomorrow and to be as ready as possible.”
