Leclerc brands his Hungaroring pole as "the most surprising pole position I've ever done"

Having secured the first starting positon for the 40th Hungarian Grand Prix, Ferrari's eight-time Grand Prix winner Charles Leclerc has branded his result as "the most surprising pole position I've ever done."

Ferrari endured a challenging day at the Hungaroring. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton displayed great pace in final practice, ending up third and fourth, respectively.

However, the conditions changed massively for qualifying, with track temperatures having dropped and the wind having picked up. This seemingly affected Ferrari more than their rivals.

Hamilton struggled in Q1, but made it through into Q2, albeit he was unable to achieve anything more than a P12 on the grid for tomorrow’s Budapest race.

His team-mate Leclerc struggled across the opening two sessions as well, but progressed into Q3. After his first hot lap, he found himself in a disappointing P7, but he delivered again when it mattered to secure an absolutely astonishing pole position for tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Speaking of his qualifying, Leclerc said: "Well, today is a day where I don't understand anything anymore in motorsport! I mean, honestly, qualifying felt horrible. From the first lap to maybe the penultimate lap, everything felt out of place. It really felt like we had done a step backwards from FP3.

"And in terms of competitiveness, Q1 I was on the limit, barely made it to Q2. Q2 I was on the limit, I mean, I did quite a big mistake in Turn 4, but still, it wasn't easy to get to Q3. And then Q3, the conditions I think changed for everybody. I basically just did a clean lap, which I think was a really good lap because those conditions were very difficult to get everything right.

"And I did, but I was really happy about the lap, and it's probably the biggest, the most surprising pole position I've ever done. I think after FP3 it wouldn't have been so surprising. But after Q1 and Q2, I really thought we would struggle to get into the top five even. So, I'm very happy."

Pressed on to reflect on his final Q3 lap, the eight-time Grand Prix winner added: "I mean, I don't drive the McLaren car, so it's difficult to comment but for sure the car was a lot more difficult in Q3 than it was in Q2, but then I don't know if it's more difficult compared to the McLaren or easier.

"But for sure, we gained competitiveness not only towards the McLaren, but towards everybody in Q3. Because when I finished the lap, I really thought that this was probably good enough for P3 just, but definitely not P1. So, it was a good surprise. However, it also felt worse for me from Q2 to Q3. It was just very tricky."

Leclerc continued: "So, again, I think for many things I did not expect to be on pole also because I was saying on Thursday, this is probably the worst track for me statistically over the season. I've always trailed. But this weekend, for some reason, I found some pace. So yeah, it's good."

Pushed on to reveal what he expects from the race, Leclerc refused to offer a clear answer, whilst he also suggested that rain might also make an appearance on Sunday.

"I mean, I don't know. I think there's some rain around tomorrow, so if that is the case, then it's obviously easier to overtake. But it's always better to be starting first, especially on this track. So, I'm very happy with my starting position and now full focus on trying to keep it tomorrow."