04/08/2025
NEWS STORY
George Russell believes there was "something not right" with Charles Lerclerc's car during the Hungarian Grand Prix.
On Saturday the Monegasque and his team shocked the watching world by taking pole against all odds.
Then, courtesy of a brilliant start, and another fluff-up by Norris, was able to lead until the first round of pit stops. He subsequently retook the lead but was eventually passed by the faster McLaren pair.
Though looking good for a podium finish, suddenly, judging by the mysterious, unspecific radio messages, it became clear the Monegasque had an issue, and he was subsequently passed by George Russell.
While Leclerc later 'retracted' the comments he had made about "things" during the race, Russell has expressed his doubts, feeling that the team illegally made changes to the car during the race.
"He's not going to tell you that they're close to being illegal," the Mercedes driver told Sky Sports, when told that Leclerc had said his issue was related to the chassis.
"I saw how slow he was, so I presumed something was not right," said the Briton.
"The only thing we can think of is they were running the car too low to the ground and they had to increase the tyre pressures for the last stint," he added.
Rusell ran for one lap behind the Ferrari when Oscar Piastri passed Leclerc just before the Monegasque driver pitted, the Mercedes driver was mystified by the SF-25's sudden loss of pace.
"They were using an engine mode that was making the engine slower at the end of the straight, which is where you have the most amount of plank wear," he explained.
"That's the only thing we can think of based upon the lap times and the engine mode they were running and stuff like that."
Check out our Sunday gallery from the Hungaroring here.