Charles Leclerc feared his Ferrari would come off worse for wear after the heavy crash that marred his second practice session on Friday at the Hungaroring.
In a sign of the Scuderia’s resurgence, the Monegasque had set the third fastest lap in FP1, with his teammate Carlos Sainz setting the pace.
Both drivers aimed to uphold their momentum but in the first part of second practice, Leclerc lost control of his SF-24 through the high-speed Turn 4, slamming into the wall with enough force to bend the corner’s steel barrier.
However, while the impact looked significant, the damage to the SF24 wasn’t as severe as initially feared by its driver who owned to his mistake.
“When I lost it, I thought the damage would be much bigger,” he said. “The damage is not that big but obviously enough to not continue the session and that’s not what you want.
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“What happened is that I ran a bit wide on the kerb, I got a snap in the middle of Turn 4, and lost the car on the kerb. It was my mistake, now it’s all about bouncing back.
“Until now, the car was pretty good. The feeling is getting better, we had a more consistent day compared to the last three or four weekends, so that’s a positive.”
Indeed, Leclerc has struggled to deliver a strong result since his dominate win back in May at Monaco. In the last four races, the six-time Grand Prix winner has achieved just a single podium – in Austria where he finished third.
The 26-year-old is hopeful they can recover the lost practice time in Saturday’s FP3 and put everything together for a good showing in the rest of the weekend although he noted the strong form once again of McLaren.
“Unfortunately, with the mistake, the mileage was cut short. Hopefully, we will recover that in FP3,” he said.
“I wouldn’t get carried away too quickly but the feeling is good. We still seem to be behind McLaren, they seem to be super strong this weekend.
“The feeling is good, that’s always a good sign. Now we’ve got to put everything together and hopefully we will do that.”
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