Leclerc dismisses Ferrari reliability scare

Ewan Gale
Friday 29 July 2022 19:35

Charles Leclerc has insisted there were no concerns over a potential reliability fault during practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver radioed his pit wall during the second session at the Hungaroring complaining about a potential torque issue when in fourth gear but after a quick stoppage in his garage, Leclerc was sent back out onto the track.

After the recent reliability woes experienced by the Scuderia, concerns were raised in the paddock and viewers who took to social media, but Leclerc has explained: "It wasn't [an issue] at all.

"I saw some comments that we had a technical issue but no, nothing wrong."

Leclerc finished the second session fastest of all, over two-tenths faster than Lando Norris who finished runner-up for McLaren.

But rain threatens to hit qualifying and the Monégasque added: "It looks like it is going to rain tomorrow so we have to be on top of this and put the tyres in the right window which is always a difficult thing whenever it is raining so this will be our main priority.

"Hopefully, if we can manage to put them in the right window, we can have this advantage."

Sainz understands backwards steps

Carlos Sainz has found confidence behind the wheel of the F1-75 since his maiden win at Silverstone and was fastest in the opening session of this weekend before sliding down to third in FP2.

"Straight out of the box in FP1, felt very comfortable with the car balance but obviously, you always feel there are things to improve," said the Spaniard.

"We tried a couple of different set-up directions going into FP2 which made us lose a bit of confidence and performance but we know exactly why and for tomorrow and Sunday, we believe we can go back to where we were in FP1 and be more competitive."