Charles Leclerc at the F1 Hungaroring track

Russell strikes at Leclerc and Ferrari with technical breach claims

19:54, 03 Aug

Updated: 20:44, 03 Aug

byNorberto Mujica

George Russell has come up with a rather peculiar theory as to why Charles Leclerc slowed down significantly in the last stint and points to the issue that has reportedly been hindering Ferrari throughout the 2025 season.

Leclerc's pace in the first two stints had been enough to stay ahead of both McLaren's.

Nevertheless in the third and final stint the Monegasque's pace dropped off significantly edging him out of the fight for the win and reeled him into Russell's clutches.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the British Mercedes driver presented his view of the situation: “I saw how slow he was, so I presumed something was not right."

“He’s not going to tell you that they’re close to being illegal,” he said conspicuously.

Ferrari has reportedly been struggling with a rear suspension collapsing issue throught the entirety of the 2025 F1 season which has been rumoured as the cause behind their double disqualification in China.

George Russell and Charles Leclerc nearly collided at Hungary

Russell hits Leclerc with potential Ferrari illegality theory

Since the Belgian Grand Prix the Scuderia has introduced a revamped rear suspension. Russell believes that the Maranello-based outfit were off in their ride height calculations forcing them to take in-race measures to avoid being disqualified from the race results in Hungary as well.

“The only thing we (Mercedes, ed.), 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.”

Russell then opined that Ferrari might have used a different engine mode for Leclerc's car for a particular top speed reason.

“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.”

“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.”