George Russell clashed with Charles Leclerc during the Hungarian Grand Prix as the Ferrari star’s race turned into an utter nightmare.
Leclerc arrived at the track with a pole position in the bag following a shock performance during yesterday’s qualifying session with his teammate Lewis Hamilton failing to get into Q3 and started 12th on the grid.
Staying ahead of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the Mclaren was always going to be difficult for the Mongolese driver but his race quickly turned into a mess with the driver quick to point the finger at his team.
After a cryptic message to his team, Leclerc fully lost it with one of the most damning radio messages of the season so far as he fell down the order.
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“This is so incredibly frustrating,” he said. “We’ve lost all competitiveness. You just have to listen to me, I would have found a different way of managing those issues.
“Now it’s just undriveable. Undriveable. It’s a miracle if we finish on the podium.”
Leclerc’s prediction ultimately came true as he lumbered to a fourth-place finish but not before a controversial battle with Mercedes’ George Russell.
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Russell put the pressure on into turn 1 and accused Leclerc of moving under braking, demanding his rival received a penalty.
Russell said over the radio: “That was moving under braking. I committed and he moved while breaking. Almost cracked into the back of him. It’s clearly not allowed.”
The Mercedes star ultimately didn’t need to help of the five-second penalty Leclerc eventually received as a result of his actions as he overtook the Ferrari star for a place on the podium.
However, he couldn’t resist one last dig at his fellow driver in the cooldown room alongside race winner Norris and his teammate Piastri.
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While watching footage of Leclerc earlier in the race, Russell said: “He didn’t bloody drive like that against me.”
The footage of the incident was then shown to all three drivers with audible gasps coming from the Mclaren stars.
Leclerc later admitted that he didn't the full information available to him during his radio meltdown and highlighted an issue with the Ferrari's chassis for the lack of pace.
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He said: "In the car I didn't have all the information, now I have.
"We had an issue from lap 40 on the chassis. From that moment I was just a passenger. I'm disappointed, but these are the races. At least I know what happened in the background."
Norris’ victory means Piastri’s lead in the World Driver’s Championship is just nine points heading into the summer break.
Formula One returns on August 31 for the Dutch Grand Prix.
Topics: Formula 1, Hungarian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri
Marcus Banks