He admitted before the race that it was \u2018the most unexpected pole position\u2019 of his career, and the Ferrari<\/a> driver got off to the perfect start on Sunday.<\/p>\n Leclerc held off Oscar Piastri and watched Lando Norris briefly drop down to fifth, and after two rounds of pit stops, it looked like the Monegasque driver was in the strongest position to win the Hungarian Grand Prix<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, as the race went on, the one-stop strategy Norris was forced onto looked stronger and stronger, but by the closing stages, Leclerc wasn\u2019t concerned about victory.<\/p>\n RANKDRIVERTEAMPOINTS1Lando NorrisMcLaren252Oscar PiastriMcLaren183George RussellMercedes154Charles LeclercFerrari125Fernando AlonsoAston Martin106Gabriel BortoletoSauber87Lance StrollAston Martin68Liam LawsonRacing Bulls49Max VerstappenRed Bull210Kimi AntonelliMercedes1<\/p>\n Instead, his car was suddenly two seconds per lap slower, with George Russell and Anthony Davidson perplexed by Leclerc\u2019s lack of pace<\/a>.<\/p>\n Leclerc never caught up to Norris, and Piastri passed him with ease, meaning the battle was between George Russell<\/a> and Leclerc for the final spot on the podium.<\/p>\n It took the Mercedes<\/a> driver two attempts to pass Leclerc, but the Monegasque driver\u2019s second defensive effort was questionable to say the least.<\/p>\n Pundit James Hinchcliffe believes the five-second penalty Leclerc received was far too lenient, and the stewards should be allowed to be far harsher in these situations.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc\u2019s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend<\/a><\/p>\n James Hinchcliffe was asked if he agreed with the five-second time penalty Leclerc was given during the race on Formula 1\u2019s official Post-Race Show<\/a> and said: \u201cIt was on the edge, for sure.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s probably appropriate, but ultimately, it doesn\u2019t cost you anything when you\u2019re 20 seconds ahead of the next car.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like blocking penalties, as you take a look here, Russell\u2019s very clearly out and makes the move first. That\u2019s the whole thing.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t move in reaction to it, you\u2019ve got to pre-empt the move from the car in front.<\/p>\n \u201cHe moved first, then Charles moved, tried this over-under to cut back into turn two. So, that was probably an earned penalty. But it\u2019s not a penalty.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason you don\u2019t want to move under braking it\u2019s a safety thing. And I feel like, if it\u2019s a safety thing, it should be a position penalty, rather than a time penalty, because safety is the most important thing.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if we\u2019re ignoring that by knowing you\u2019ve got enough of a gap to do something dangerous, then what\u2019s the deterrent there?\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory<\/a><\/p>\n Fred Vasseur admits he \u2018perfectly\u2019 understands why Charles Leclerc was so frustrated<\/p>\n Leclerc managed to lose ground to his closest rival, Russell, in the drivers\u2019 championship<\/a> as a result of his car issues.<\/p>\n There\u2019s still a chance that Leclerc matches his third-place finish in the standings from last season, but he needs Ferrari to work out exactly what went wrong in Hungary and make sure it doesn\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n Position Drivers’ Championship PointsPts 1 284 2 275 3 187 4 172 5 151 6 109 7 64 8 54 9 37 10 27 <\/p>\n![\"Ferrari](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2228321762-1024x673.jpg\")
Photo by Clive Rose\/Getty ImagesJames Hinchcliffe says Charles Leclerc should have got a \u2018positional\u2019 penalty at the Hungarian Grand Prix<\/p>\n