Ferrari reject conspiracy theory but can't explain odd Charles Leclerc issue

Ferrari do not fully understand the “strange” issue which cost Charles Leclerc a potential victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Leclerc controlled proceedings during the first and second stints but his pace dramatically faltered following his final pit stop and he was passed by Oscar Piastri and George Russell in the closing stages.

The Monegasque was left hugely frustrated as he repeatedly complained over team radio and described his car as being “undriveable” as he slipped from pole position to fourth at the chequered flag.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur admitted his side had no explanation for the problem which cost Leclerc a potential victory.

"The situation was quite strange," Vasseur explained to media including Crash.net.

"We were under control for the first 40 laps of the race. We were in control for the first stint, a bit more difficult for the second one, but it was still manageable. The last stint was a disaster, very difficult to drive.

”The balance was not there. Honestly so far we don't know exactly what's happened. We have to investigate if we have something broken on the chassis side or whatever. At one stage I thought that we would never finish the race.

“The first two stints went pretty well and we lost completely the pace and the pace of the weekend on the last one. It’s tough.”

Ferrari deny wild theories

The lack of clarity regarding the issue prompted several theories about what thwarted Leclerc’s car.

Leclerc alluded to him “managing issues” during the race but Vasseur insisted his driver’s comments had nothing to do with what happened in the final stint.

"It was a completely different story about energy management,” he said.

Vasseur also denied that changes to Leclerc’s front wing settings at his final stop had triggered the behavioural problems he encountered.

"I think on the first lap of the last stint he lost something like one second,” Vasseur said.

"He asked us if we didn't do a mistake on the front wing when we adjusted the front wing, but we did not. We completely lost the pace.

"Perhaps it's a bit of a snowball effect, but I think from lap 38 to 43 we lost at least eight tenths.”

Nor did it have anything to do with the power unit.

"When he says chassis, it's because it has nothing to do with the power unit. Now we don't know exactly what happened,” Vasseur added.

After the race, Russell suggested that Ferrari were forced to increase Leclerc’s tyre pressures in the final stint in order to manage their plank wear and avoid a potential disqualification.

While Ferrari have faced issues with plank wear this season, including in China where Lewis Hamilton was disqualified, Vasseur quickly hit back at such suggestions.

“[Before] when we lost the pace we lost two or three tenths. Today we lost two seconds. A bit different,” he responded.