Damon Hill can’t believe how bad 24-pole position F1 driver’s recent results have been

Follow us on Google Discover

The Hungarian Grand Prix marks the start of the second half of the 2024 Formula 1 season after a dozen thrilling race weekends.

Four teams are now arguably going into each race hoping to be challenging for victory and with two events left until the summer break, drivers and teams are making one final push before getting some time off.

For some drivers, the races at the Hungaroring and Spa could decide whether they’ll still be on the grid in Zandvoort at the end of August.

Others are simply hoping to rediscover their best form or try and work out why certain updates aren’t working as expected.

Temperatures are expected to soar at the Hungarian Grand Prix which should make for a fascinating race with tyre wear suddenly an even more important factor in the race.

Tyre selection dominated the British Grand Prix and was instrumental in Lewis Hamilton finally ending his long wait for another F1 victory.

One driver who compounded his recent bad luck with a poor decision at Silverstone was Charles Leclerc.

The Ferrari driver went onto the intermediate tyres too soon and speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast, former champion Damon Hill admitted he doesn’t know what’s going on with the 26-year-old.

Leclerc’s relationship with his new race engineer doesn’t seem to be working at this stage, with their communication one of the reasons he decided to make the early switch away from slick tyres despite running in the points at that stage of the race.

However, ever since his victory at his home race in Monaco, Leclerc has been struck by bad luck and will be hoping that changes this weekend to avoid falling further behind Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

The Monegasque driver looks a long way off being able to add to his 24 career pole positions at this stage of the campaign.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Damon Hill can’t believe Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s recent bad form

Reflecting on the Monegasque’s recent form, Hill said: “It’s been a nightmare for him since Monaco hasn’t it? It’s just not gone right at all.

“Everything, the strategy seems to be out of the window.”

Journalist and host Tom Clarkson added: “Then at Silverstone, they were having to put old bits back on the car to try and work out where they were strong and weak with the new parts.

“Charles [Leclerc] looked very defeated afterwards, he’s just four points ahead of Carlos [Sainz] despite Carlos having done one less race of course.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari need fast turnaround to avoid being left behind

Lewis Hamilton won’t be worrying about Ferrari’s recent form yet ahead of his move next year, but Mercedes and McLaren have both leapfrogged the Italian team in recent races.

Team principal Frederic Vasseur highlighted a key mistake Ferrari have made with Leclerc recently and that will need to be rectified to avoid the Monegasque driver dropping further down the Drivers’ Championship.

The team are one of a handful on the grid who don’t appear to have got to grips with their latest update.

A floor upgrade has caused serious bouncing during races and Carlos Sainz admitted that the bouncing is killing Ferrari at the moment.

The bouncing is an issue Lewis Hamilton has previously criticised during his time at Mercedes and he’ll be desperate for Ferrari to fix that before his arrival.

He’ll also be hoping Mercedes don’t make too many more steps forward, otherwise whoever replaces him could end up being one of his closest rivals in 2025.