Russell lifts the lid on Ferrari's technical issues at the Hungarian Grand Prix

Having overtaking Charles Leclerc in the closing stages of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Mercedes driver George Russell suggested that the Ferrari man had to nurse an issue with plank wear which led to his sudden loss of pace in the second half of the 70-lap Mogyoród race.

Ferrari endured mixed emotions in Saturday’s qualifying at the Hungaroring. Lewis Hamilton failed to secure anything better than a P12 on the grid after struggling for pace in constantly-changing weather conditions.

On the other side of the garage, Charles Leclerc also looked to uncomfortable behind the wheel of his SF-25, albeit he progressed into the final part of qualifying. With a storming lap, he grabbed pole position on a track where he never really felt himself competitive.

Come the race, the Monegasque had a great start to maintain the lead into Turn 1. During his first stint, he looked very competitive and was able to build up a margin from his closest rival Oscar Piastri.

Although he appeared to be strong during his second stint as well, his pace unexpectedly faded in the last segment of the Mogyoród race which saw him fall back to P4, ending a disappointing day at the Hungaroring.

After taking the chequered flag at the Hungaroring, the Monegasque suggested that an issue with his chassis caused his sudden loss of pace in the final third of the 70-lap Hungarian Grand Prix.

However, Mercedes driver George Russell, who managed to get onto the podium thanks to Leclerc's issues, suggested that Ferrari man actually had another issue.

The Briton insisted that Ferrari might have had fears about plank wear which forced them to manage the issues by increasing tyre pressure and running a specific engine mode to care the plank underneath the SF-25

Russell, who spent several laps behind Leclerc's Ferrari before overtaking him into Turn 1, stated: “I saw how close he was, something was not right.

“The only think we can think is that they were running the car too close to the ground and they had to increase the tyre pressure for the last stint, because they were using an engine mode which makes the engine slower at the end of the straight, which is where you have the most amount of plank wear.”