{"id":278,"date":"2026-07-23T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=278"},"modified":"2026-07-23T15:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:01:09","slug":"charles-leclerc-plays-down-ferrari-friendly-track-in-hungary-and-shifts-favorite-status-to-mercedes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/charles-leclerc-plays-down-ferrari-friendly-track-in-hungary-and-shifts-favorite-status-to-mercedes\/","title":{"rendered":"Leclerc plays down ‘Ferrari-friendly’ track in Hungary and shifts favorite status to Mercedes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ferrari enters the Hungarian Grand Prix with strong momentum following Charles Leclerc’s recent run of form. However, the Monegasque driver moved quickly to cool pre-weekend hype. While he acknowledges that the Hungaroring should favor the characteristics of the SF-26, he emphasized that the final result will depend far more on the Italian team’s operational execution than the raw potential of the car\u2014firmly shifting the favorite tag onto Mercedes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leclerc snapped a nearly two-year winless drought by taking victory at the British Grand Prix earlier this month. Last week in Belgium, he led part of the race and, after lacking the pace to hold off Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s charges, crossed the finish line in second place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riding a wave of strong form in the championship, the Monegasque expressed excitement for the Hungarian round, where he put in a stellar performance to capture pole position last season\u2014despite dropping to fourth in the race. This time, he hopes to replicate that qualifying speed without suffering the same race-day setbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m looking forward to this weekend. It’s a circuit where I usually have to work a bit harder to find the rhythm needed to be fast, but it’s also a very interesting track. Last year, things went extremely well for me here in qualifying, so I’ll try to reproduce that level of performance, while leaving behind the race where we struggled,” he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leclerc evaluated that Ferrari’s recent leap forward wasn’t driven solely by upgrades, but by their ability to better exploit the car’s existing potential. According to the Monegasque, the SF-26’s cornering balance could prove to be a crucial advantage around the Hungaroring, a circuit famous for its continuous flow of low- and medium-speed corners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These cars are so sensitive that when even a single element is slightly off or different, it makes a massive difference on track. Our biggest strength right now is probably the balance and grip we have through the corners, which is vital at a circuit like this,” he analyzed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"F1
Charles Leclerc backed up his Silverstone win with a 2nd-place finish at Spa (Photo: Rodrigo Ruiz\/Grande Pr\u00eamio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“We executed the last two weekends exceptionally well and managed to optimize the car’s performance. That was the most important factor. We might be a bit closer to the front-runners, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to execution. There’s always a lot of noise surrounding this team, but we need to focus all our energy on what really matters. With these cars, preparation is absolutely crucial,” he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leclerc cautioned that a track theoretically suited to a car’s strengths guarantees nothing on race day. To illustrate his point, he cited the Monaco Grand Prix, where Ferrari looked competitive on paper but ultimately underperformed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If you’re even slightly outside the ideal operating window, as we saw in Monaco, you lose more performance than the car’s inherent characteristics could ever grant you at a favorable track. There are so many variables that you have to keep an open mind. Understanding where performance actually comes from is far more complex,” he assessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That’s why the work done with the engineers and everyone back at the factory is so critical. It’s not enough to just feel an improvement behind the wheel; you have to understand precisely why it’s happening,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"F1
Leclerc noted that Ferrari successfully maximized the SF-26’s performance over recent rounds (Photo: Rodrigo Ruiz\/Grande Pr\u00eamio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite Ferrari’s strong form, Leclerc firmly rejected the role of race favorite heading into the weekend. In his eyes, Mercedes remains the benchmark, particularly over a single lap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Personally, I still expect Mercedes to be the reference point. They’ll be very tough to beat on single-lap pace in qualifying, but it’s also true that, on paper, this layout should suit our car better,” he projected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Of course, every car has its specific strengths and weaknesses. But once again, it all comes down to flawless execution,” he concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Formula 1 returns July 24\u201326 in Budapest, host of the Hungarian GP, Round 11 of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

F1 Hungarian GP: when to watch in US ET, London (UK), New Delhi (India), Shanghai (China) and Sydney (Australia)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

US Eastern Time (ET)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Free Practice 1:<\/strong>\u00a007:30 AM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Free Practice 2:<\/strong>\u00a011:00 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Free Practice 3:<\/strong>\u00a006:30 AM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Qualifying:<\/strong>\u00a010:00 AM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Race:<\/strong>\u00a009:00 AM<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    London Time (BST)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Free Practice 1:<\/strong>\u00a012:30 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Free Practice 2:<\/strong>\u00a004:00 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Free Practice 3:<\/strong>\u00a011:30 AM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Qualifying:<\/strong>\u00a003:00 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Race:<\/strong>\u00a002:00 PM<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      New Delhi Time (IST)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • Free Practice 1:<\/strong>\u00a005:00 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Free Practice 2:<\/strong>\u00a008:30 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Free Practice 3:<\/strong>\u00a004:00 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Qualifying:<\/strong>\u00a007:30 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Race:<\/strong>\u00a006:30 PM<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Shanghai Time (CST)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • Free Practice 1:<\/strong>\u00a007:30 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Free Practice 2:<\/strong>\u00a011:00 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Free Practice 3:<\/strong>\u00a006:30 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Qualifying:<\/strong>\u00a010:00 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Race:<\/strong>\u00a009:00 PM<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          Sydney Time (AEST)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • Free Practice 1:<\/strong>\u00a009:30 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Free Practice 2:<\/strong>\u00a001:00 AM\u00a0(overnight)<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Free Practice 3:<\/strong>\u00a008:30 PM<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Qualifying:<\/strong>\u00a012:00 AM\u00a0(midnight)<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Race:<\/strong>\u00a011:00 PM<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Charles Leclerc stated that while the Hungaroring’s layout suits the characteristics of the SF-26, he placed Mercedes ahead and stressed that Ferrari’s performance will hinge on its ability to maximize its own execution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020309483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Charles Leclerc views Mercedes as the clear favorite for the Hungarian GP","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Rodrigo Ruiz\/Grande Pr\u00eamiot","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[28,56,16],"42wp_author":[93],"class_list":["post-278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-charles-leclerc","tag-ferrari","tag-mercedes","42wp_author-marcos-gil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":283,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions\/283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020309483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}