Leclerc moved on 'quite easily' from Hockenheim crash

Charles Leclerc says he was able to move on “quite easily” from his crash at Hockenheim last Sunday that cost him a shot at his maiden Formula 1 victory, with attention now turning to this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Leclerc slid off the circuit in rainy conditions midway through the race at Hockenheim, crashing into the barrier at the penultimate corner and beaching his Ferrari in the gravel.

Leclerc was quick to shoulder the blame for the accident, and said on Thursday in Hungary that he had been able to move on quickly after fully analysing his error.

“I’m always analysing my mistakes quite a lot, which I did straightaway after the race. I tried to analyse what I’d done wrong,” Leclerc explained.

“There are a few things we could have done a little bit better, but in the end it was very difficult to know it would rain again. It was my first lap also on the dry tyres, so in the end I moved on quite easily.”

Leclerc said he had felt more disappointed after crashing out of qualifying in Baku earlier this year when in contention for pole position.

“I think after Baku I was definitely not the way I am now. For me it was a much bigger mistake,” Leclerc said.

“In Hockenheim, the consequences have been very big, probably bigger than they were in Baku in qualifying because we were scoring points. But on the other hand, the conditions were very bad in the last two corners, and it started raining again.

“It’s not an excuse in any way. I need to learn from this. But I would say the conditions were a lot more difficult.”

One positive Leclerc took from the Hockenheim weekend was Ferrari’s strong pace in both dry and wet conditions, but he conceded there was a bleaker outlook for Hungary.

“The car was very strong, in the wet and in the dry, so that was good to see. As I said in Germany, I put all of it in the bin after my mistake,” Leclerc said.

“Fortunately for the team there was also Seb in the race that did a great race and finished second, so that’s good, and now we need to focus on here.

“It doesn’t look as positive in terms of performance as it did in Hockenheim on paper, but we’ll try to give everything.

“I think our strong point of our car at the moment is more the straight-line speed. The Hungaroring is not known for the long straights, so I expect a bit more of a difficult weekend. But we’ll give it a go.”