Charles Leclerc reveals extent of Ferrari damage after Hungarian GP practice crash

Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari garage with his arms crossed

Charles Leclerc admitted he thought the damage to his Ferrari would be “much bigger” than it was, after crashing out of FP2 in Hungary on Friday.

Leclerc hit the inside wall on the exit of the high-speed Turn 4 at the Hungaroring after catching the kerb and being sent into a spin, the weight of the impact setting off the sensor that required the Medical Car to be deployed – though he reported immediately that he was okay.

Charles Leclerc admits FP2 crash in Hungary was ‘my mistake’

The impact for the Ferrari driver brought out the red flags for 15 of the 60 minutes of FP2 as the drivers waited for the barriers to be repaired, with Leclerc having torn advertising hoardings as part of his collision among further barrier work.

But despite the high-speed nature of his crash, the Monégasque driver revealed that the impact left him without as much damage as he had first feared, even though it cost him the rest of his session – which he will hope to make up in third practice on Saturday.

“Well, when I lost it I thought the damage would be much bigger,” Leclerc said after the session.

“The damage is not that big, but obviously it’s enough for us to not continue the session and that’s never what you want.

“What happened is that I ran a bit wide on the kerb, I got a snap in the middle of Turn 4, got a bit wide on the kerb and then lost the car on the kerb.

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“So it was my mistake, but now it’s all about bouncing back tomorrow.

“The car was pretty good. The feeling is getting a little bit better, we had more of a consistent day compared to the last three or four weekends. So that’s positive.

“Unfortunately, with the mistake, the mileage was cut short, but hopefully we’ll recover that in FP3 tomorrow.”

With Ferrari having brought an upgraded floor to the Hungaroring this weekend, as they look for a way back to challenging at the front of the field.

Leclerc ranked third in FP1 while team-mate Carlos Sainz topped the session, and when asked if their apparently improvements were a sign of what is to come, Leclerc was quick to temper expectations.

“I wouldn’t get carried away too quickly, but the feeling is good,” he responded.

“I think we are still quite a bit behind McLaren. McLaren seem to be super strong this weekend.

“However, as I said, the feeling is good and that’s always a good sign. Now, we’ve got to put everything together tomorrow and I’m hopeful it will be done.”

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