Andrea Stella suggests overly cautious driving cost McLaren, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri pole position at the 2025 Hungarian GP as the boss hints at how they had to try to balance the windy conditions whilst Charles Leclerc and his team went all-or-nothing.
Fans were stunned to see the Ferrari driver on pole for the first time in the 2025 Formula 1 season on a weekend that it appeared the papaya cars were simply untouchable based on their performance throughout the practice sessions.
In fact, in FP3 on Saturday morning, the man from Monaco was 0.399 slower than pair ahead but he dramatically flipped the script around in the dying embers of Q3 later on that same August 2.
As both McLaren cars failed to improve on their final runs, Leclerc found the crucial time needed to snag the top spot and this is caution is how the team boss hints Piastri and Norris cost themselves pole at the 2025 Hungarian GP.
“Having seen the performance of the car in practice and in Q1 and Q2 we were certainly trying to lock out the front row of the grid,” Stella told Sky Sports F1. “But today the conditions were very weird and very dependent on the wind.
“We paid a bit of a price. I think our drivers may have been a bit cautious because you never knew what grip you’d find.
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“So we went four tenths slower while Leclerc went faster. He deserved the pole position.”
McLaren will not turn their attention to Sunday, where they will hope their race pace advantage will be enough to overcome Leclerc’s lone Ferrari from pole position in Budapest.
If they do not have the out-right speed to slip by the pole sitter in the opening stages, they will be looking to their advantage when it comes to tyre management to make the crucial difference – with options to overcut or undercut on August 3.
Leclerc, meanwhile, will bank on track position and free air being enough to dictate the pace of the race and to defend his place, in a fashion similar to how Red Bull’s Max Verstappen did at the 2025 Japanese GP.
Norris agrees with McLaren boss over missing out at 2025 Hungarian GP
Norris, for his part, actually agrees with his team boss that Leclerc took more risks than he or his teammate did and points out that the change in wind conditions left McLaren punished compared to their peers.
Ultimately missing out on pole wasn’t really a big deal for him, although he does ass that it’s disappointing within the wider context of the season and the general pace McLaren have shown throughout 2025 thusfar.
“From how our form is, then of course (it’s disappointing),” Norris told F1 TV of missing out on pole. “But I think Charles did a good job on the last lap.
“He probably risked a little bit more in these conditions. The wind changed a lot and it really seemed to punish us in a bigger way it seems.
“Not too many complaints. We thought we both did some good laps at the end, and we were just slow. So, nothing to complain of, but Charles did a good job.”
“It’s a long lap with many corners. It’s tricky, but in Q2, we showed how quick we can go, and our advantage. But as soon as the wind changed, everything went away and the last sector became even trickier again.”
