‘The Wind’ Helps Ferrari: McLaren Calls It a ‘Pathetic’ Excuse After Leclerc’s Pole at Hungarian GP
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured a surprise pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix, edging past McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in constantly changing weather conditions. This marks Ferrari’s first pole position of the 2025 season.
Despite leading every practice session over the Hungarian GP weekend, McLaren were left shocked on Saturday as Charles Leclerc delivered a stunning final lap during a weather-affected qualifying session to snatch pole.
Having been the fastest in all three practice runs, McLaren were widely expected to dominate qualifying. But when it mattered, championship leader Oscar Piastri and his teammate — and closest title contender — Lando Norris were outpaced by Leclerc, who managed his lap at the perfect moment.
Wind Change Upsets McLaren’s Rhythm
Piastri, who currently tops the championship standings after 13 out of the 24 scheduled races, had to settle for second on the starting grid.
“I think the wind changed quite a bit,” the Australian said.
“It always sounds a bit pathetic blaming the wind, but it practically reversed from Q1 to Q3, which made many corners feel totally different.”
Piastri confessed that the changing conditions caught him by surprise.
“My first lap in Q3 felt quite bad because I wasn’t used to the conditions, and though I thought the second lap was an improvement — it ended up being slower,” he added.
“It’s really tricky to judge in these scenarios — maybe we didn’t execute well. I was a bit taken aback that we couldn’t go any faster. But second is still a solid place to start. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
Norris, who finished third in qualifying and is just 16 points behind Piastri in the championship, also expressed frustration, suggesting that the team might have been too cautious as the wind threw them off balance.
“I think Charles did a solid job on that last lap and probably took a few more risks in those tricky conditions,” said Norris.
“The wind shifted a lot, and it really seemed to affect us more than the others.”
Leclerc Clinches His First Pole of the Season
Leclerc’s pole lap was not just his first-ever in Hungary but also Ferrari’s maiden pole of 2025, and the 27th of his F1 career. It was a big moment for the Scuderia, who have mostly played catch-up to McLaren and Red Bull this year.
His final Q3 lap edged out Piastri by a mere 0.021 seconds, with Norris trailing him by another 0.032 seconds — highlighting just how tight the session was.
One of the Tightest Qualifying Sessions in History
In fact, the gap between Leclerc on pole and Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar in 10th place was just 0.543 seconds — making it one of the closest qualifying rounds ever seen in Formula One.
The top ten starting grid for Sunday’s race:
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
- Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
