Leclerc hit the wall after losing control of his Ferrari in Q1
Saturday 3 August 2019 18:06, UK
Charles Leclerc conceded he was very fortunate to qualify fourth after another "unacceptable" error at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver pipped his team-mate Sebastian Vettel for the position by just 0.028 seconds, despite spinning off the track in the final corner in Q1.
Leclerc hit the wall after losing control of his Ferrari but swift repairs by his team allowed the Monegasque to carry on.
"I've been very lucky to go again," said Leclerc. "I have to thank the team very much for what they've done but it was a completely unnecessary mistake at that point in qualifying.
"That's two mistakes in two Grands Prix. The first one wasn't acceptable but this one is definitely not acceptable, and if I had stayed in the wall it would have been a lot worse.
"I need to learn from these mistakes. This is the second one in qualifying at an unnecessary time so I need to understand and work on that.
"On the other hand, it was very positive in Q3 on my side. Of course, we are half a second down, that's not where we want to be but I'm very happy with my lap overall."
Max Verstappen held off the challenge from Mercedes to secure the first pole position of his career.
Just six days after his sublime drive to victory in the rain at Hockenheim, Verstappen thrilled his travelling orange army once more with another imperious display.
The 21-year-old finished just 0.016 seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas with Lewis Hamilton in third, two tenths back.
Vettel finished fifth and cut a dejected figure in the wake of his performance in Q3, as he trailed Verstappen by half a second.
He said: "I don't think they've [Red Bull] found something, they were quick already the weeks before coming here.
"Obviously they do have a disadvantage on the engine side but here the engine is not as important.
"We knew they would be strong, we knew Mercedes would be strong because they have the best package but obviously we can't be happy sitting further back and not being able to intervene in that fight."
