Charles Leclerc reckons Lewis Hamilton‘s dire Hungarian Grand Prix weekend will prove to be an outlier as he tipped his Ferrari Formula 1 team-mate to bounce back.
Hamilton has seldom headed Leclerc in competitive sessions in 2025, but he seemed to have been closing the gap until the double-header prior to the summer break.
The Briton endured a Q1 elimination in Belgium, though he salvaged points with a spirited recovery, while he started outside the top 10 once more at the Hungaroring.
Hamilton’s latest Q3 omission coincided with Leclerc achieving an unexpected pole position, causing the seven-time F1 champion to describe his driving as “useless”.
And having vowed last month that his time in red won’t end without a title, a discouraged Hamilton even proposed that Ferrari should replace him as he qualified 12th.
However, Leclerc, who’s declared he has no interest in harbouring the upper hand until Ferrari is disputing victories, has backed Hamilton to be back on the pace soon.
“At the end we are one team, and as much as I want to finish in front of Lewis, I want both of us to be successful, and Ferrari to be successful,” Leclerc told media including Motorsport Week.
“Obviously this weekend has been a tough one for Lewis, but I have no doubt it’s a one-off, and I’m sure the second part of the season will be a lot more positive.”
Hamilton closer to Leclerc than Hungary suggested
Ferrari’s travails this season continued in the race in Budapest as Hamilton was unable to make up a place, while a chassis problem curtailed Leclerc’s win prospects.
But while Leclerc at least managed to score, Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has suggested that Hamilton was closer to his team-mate than the nine-place divide indicated.
“When you are a seven-time World Champion, your team-mate is on pole position and you are out in Q2, it’s a tough situation,” he acknowledged.
“But overall, we can also have a deep look that he was in front of Charles in Q1, with the first set that he was one tenth off in Q2.
“We were not far away from having the two cars out in Q2. And the outcome of this is that Charles at the end is able to do the pole position.
“The issue is that when we were lacking performance and at risk, he did one lap two tenths slower than Charles, and he was out in Q2.
“I don’t know if we were unlucky with Lewis or lucky with Charles to go through, but at the end of the day, it’s really on the edge.
“But I can understand the frustration from Lewis, that’s normal, and he will come back. Then he was stuck in a DRS train, but when he was alone, the pace was good.”
Vasseur has highlighted that Hamilton, who remains without a podium to his name this season, was progressing well relative to Leclerc until the previous two rounds.
“If you compete in Q3 then you can do a good result,” the Frenchman added.
“It’s true that he had a very good recovery. I’m not an expert in statistics, but he had a good recovery after Miami, Spain, Silverstone, Austria, that he was matching Charles.
“Canada, he was even in front of Charles in quali. Last weekend [in Belgium], when he lost the car in Turn 14, he was six tenths faster than Charles.
“But now I know the game. You have to finish the lap, you have to finish the race.
“It makes no sense to lead the race 40 laps if you are not able to finish, but you have to avoid to draw too quickly conclusions.”
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