"We lost a lot more than what we should have"- Charles Leclerc blames Ferrari tire change for 2022 F1 Hungarian GP loss

Charles Leclerc has admitted that Ferrari's poor tire strategy caused him to lose more than he should have at the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP. The Monegasque driver was put on hard compound tires to cover off a charging Max Verstappen, but couldn't manage to find pace after the first round of pitstops.

It all went wrong for Ferrari in Hungary after yet another dubious strategic call by the Scuderia team. Charles Leclerc was able to find decent pace and led the rest of the pack before being pitted for a set of hard compound tires but struggled to find grip and maintain heat in the harder compounds.

Fans and drivers alike were baffled by Ferrari's woeful strategy, especially after teams such as Alpine F1 tried and failed on hard tire compound stints. Not only did Leclerc lose out to George Russell on the medium compound tire, but also to his championship rival Max Verstappen, who after a stellar drive, went on to win the race.

Charles Leclerc lamented that his race was lost after the switch to the hard compound tires. Speaking to the media after the race, he said:

“I think starting on the Medium was the right choice. I think stopping for the Hard was the turning point of the race.”

The 24-year-old went on to reflect on his team's reaction to Max Verstappen's attempted undercut, saying:

“I’m pretty sure that this was [Verstappen’s] call, to put us under pressure. But I don’t think we should have maybe reacted to that because then it was a snowball effect for us, and we lost a lot more than what we should have.”

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Charles Leclerc trails Max Verstappen by 80-points in the drivers' standings

Following his woeful race on Sunday, Charles Leclerc stands 80 points behind Max Verstappen in the 2022 F1 drivers' standings. While his Ferrari F1-75 has often shown itself to be the quickest car on track, the team's dodgy strategy, slow pitstops, and reliability issues have hampered the Monegasque driver's title bid. As it stands, Verstappen can DNF in the next three races and still maintain a five-point lead in the drivers' standings over Leclerc – an amazing feat.

Things are looking especially great for his team as well. Ferrari are now nearly 100 points behind Red Bull in the constructors' standings, with Mercedes only 30 points behind them in third place.

Meanwhile, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto agreed that the Scuderia went with the wrong tire choice in Hungary, resulting in their failure. Speaking to the media, he said:

“During the race and looking at what’s going on, we have as well looked at what was happening with the other hard tyres. We took all considerations, we discussed what would have been best and that’s the choice that we made. It certainly was not the right one today.’’

Leclerc will be desperately hoping his team can get its act together and provide him with strategies to help him in his fight against Red Bull and Verstappen after the summer break.