Charles Leclerc Anticipates Difficulties at Hungaroring Owing to ‘Aggressive Driving Style’

The Hungaroring is often related to the home race of Charles Leclerc – ‘Monaco without the walls.’ However, the Monegasque isn’t too excited about Hungary. He had a stunning qualifying session in Monaco this season, giving him pole position. Despite the similarities of the tracks, Leclerc says his weakness lies in the twisty turns of the Hungarian circuit.

The Ferrari driver played down the idea of repeating his Monaco performance at Budapest. Fresh out of a podium finish, he isn’t too confident entering the race, as this circuit is not where he performs his best. He said, “It’s not a particularly strong track for myself as a driver, but I’ll try to make the best job possible.”

However, he is still aiming for a mid-field topping performance. ” I feel like it can be a strong race for us, I don’t think we will be at the level of performance as we’ve seen in Monaco, but I hope we can at least be on top of the midfield which is the reality of where we’re fighting this year.”

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While he isn’t too enthusiastic about his prospects, he is sure the team will have a positive weekend. Ferrari are trying to catch up to McLaren on the constructors’ board and are only 15 points shy.

Charles Leclerc v the Hungaroring

Linking his difficulties to his driving style, Leclerc explained, “It’s a very difficult track, very technical. You need to be very, very smooth. I tend to have a bit more of an aggressive driving style, and it looks like I’m struggling a bit more here compared to my teammates in the past. So I will work on that and try to maximize this weekend.”

Charles’ concerns are with the tight twists and turns of the extremely technical circuit, which require drivers to break earlier and for longer.

It’s this driving style that makes him one of the fastest drivers on the grid. The self-acclaimed ‘Crazy Horse’ has a more crazy method of overtaking that works for the driver. Silverstone wasn’t the first time he challenged the Silver Arrows; his win at Monza 2019 resulted from the Ferrari pressurizing the two Mercedes drivers.

Heading into the last race before the summer break, one only hopes the Ferrari driver finds his footing with the circuit and aces it as he always has. Leclerc has never been one to back down from a challenge and hopefully, we’ll get to see driver #16 outperforming the rest of the midfield.

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