Ferrari performance ‘not where we want it to be’ says Charles Leclerc after P4 in Hungary

Charles Leclerc was “relatively happy” after taking P4 in the Hungarian Grand Prix – his best result since winning in Monaco back in May – but was left concerned Ferrari are slipping further back from the current pace setters.

Having lined up in sixth on the grid, Leclerc at one stage found himself closing in on Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s battle for third. While Hamilton remained ahead – and Verstappen slipped down to fifth following contact between the two world champions – Leclerc crossed the line in fourth.

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“I’m relatively happy,” the Ferrari driver said after the race. “I mean, I’m never happy with a P4 but if you do a step back, considering the tough few races I’ve had in the last few weekends… We came here saying we need to maximise the team points, we need to maximise the car, and I think we did that today, so on that I’m happy.

“On the other hand, I’m not happy because the performance is not where we want it to be. McLaren is quite a far bit ahead now, Red Bull was a bit closer than what we thought today. But I think we had a pretty good race pace, we were just a bit stuck because it’s a track where you cannot really overtake.”