Ferrari F1 star Charles Lerclerc’s dog Leo left a present for Red Bull at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and it was not a nice one!

Leo Leclerc has become a much-loved member of the F1 paddock, ever since Alexandra and Charles first brought him along to a race in 2024.

He is a miniature daschund, and was best friends with Lewis Hamilton‘s dog Roscoe, who unfortunately passed away last year.

And at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Leo was causing all sorts of mischief.

The pet was spotted outside Red Bull’s garage having a wee, with Leclerc and his wife Alexandra looking in equal parts mortified and amused by the situation.

Red Bull seemingly saw the funny side, posting an image on their social media pages with one of their team members holding up a piece of paper which read: ‘Leo was here’.

F1 fans on social media also pointed out that the position of Leo’s bowel movement came right underneath the number three, Verstappen’s race number since having to switch from one at the beginning of this year.

F1 RESULTS: Hungarian GP practice times and positions

Leo not the only dog causing havoc

While Leo is now the mischievous hound, it was Leclerc’s team-mate Hamilton whose dogs used to run riot in the paddock.

Hamilton owned Coco and Roscoe, with Roscoe in particular becoming part of the fabric at F1 race weekends.

And, earlier this month at the British Grand Prix, Hamilton revealed that Roscoe previously used to poo right outside Valtteri Bottas’ garage in the paddock.

“Yeah, I mean, Valtteri’s going to miss the turds that he used to put in front of you,” Hamilton said in a press conference which also involved Bottas.

“It’s kind of crazy. I mean, for all those that have dogs, I miss them every day. So, I miss both my dogs every day. I still have them on my other phone. I have a picture of them.

“But yeah, it’s kind of crazy because I remember he would always be snoring through the night, waking up in the middle of the night, take him outside to take a poo in front of Valtteri’s thing. He just always went there. Don’t know why.”

How many dogs did Lewis Hamilton have?

In 2013, Hamilton adopted two bulldogs in Roscoe and Coco, with both making regular appearances in the F1 paddock.

However, Coco was given a shorter life expectancy after complications surrounding her birth and died in 2020 following a suspected heart attack.

Roscoe died five years later at the age of 12, leaving Hamilton devastated. He was given compassionate leave by Ferrari to miss a tyre test to spend his final moments with Roscoe.

Following Roscoe’s death, Hamilton released a statement on Instagram reading: “After four days on life support, fighting with every bit of strength he had, I had to make the hardest decision of my life and say goodbye to Roscoe.

“He never stopped fighting, right until the very end. I feel so grateful and honoured to have shared my life with such a beautiful soul, an angel and true friend.

“Bringing Roscoe into my life was the best decision I ever made, and I will forever cherish the memories we created together.

“Although I lost Coco, I have never been faced with putting a dog to sleep before, though I know my mum and many close friends have.

“It is one of the most painful experiences and I feel a deep connection to everyone who has gone through the loss of a beloved pet.

“Although it was so hard, having him was one of the most beautiful parts of life, to love so deeply and to be loved in return.

“Thank you all for the love and support you’ve shown Roscoe over the years. It has been so special to witness and feel.”

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Four driver names on the F1 timing charts of this weekend’s FP1 session at the Hungarian Grand Prix may not look as familiar as they usually do to those tuning in.

This is because there are four full-time drivers who will be giving up their seat for the first hour of practice at the Hungaroring to hand their machinery over to a ‘rookie’ driver to test out instead.

Let’s take a look at the full list of drivers (at the time of writing) who will be stepping aside for FP1 in Hungary.

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FP1 Hungarian Grand Prix driver swaps confirmed

McLaren F1 star Oscar Piastri will be spending Friday afternoon in Mogyorod in the garage or potentially even sat at the pitwall, enjoying a different perspective on the session in order to make way for back-to-back F3 and F2 champion, Leonardo Fornaroli.

Fornaroli will join Lando Norris in the other MCL40 in his second rookie session of the season, having tried out the reigning champion’s machinery in Barcelona last month.

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto will also be absent from FP1 as Paul Aron returns to the track in his role as F1 reserve driver with the Enstone-based outfit, having also deputised for both Audi F1 drivers in the past after Alpine loaned him out to the squad formerly known as Sauber.

Ryo Hirakawa, who recently swapped out for Esteban Ocon at the Red Bull Ring will now do the same by driving Ollie Bearman’s car for FP1 in Hungary.

And the fourth and final driver swap which will take place on Friday, July 24, concerns Cadillac and F2 driver Colton Herta.

The test driver for the brand new squad will be replacing Valtteri Bottas this weekend for FP1, with the American driver saying ahead of his outing: “It’s very exciting to get another chance in FP1. It’s a good opportunity for my personal experience, but the ultimate goal is, of course, to help the team with its development.

“It’s been six weeks since I was last in the car, and there’s been a lot of evolution in that time. My job is to help the race drivers have the best possible Hungarian Grand Prix – but also provide the feedback that will aid the team in its long-term development aims and give me a better baseline in future sessions.”

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Why do F1 drivers sit out of FP1?

In case you’re new to F1 or you’ve never found yourself wondering who the drivers are that occasionally pop up on the timings charts, here’s how it works.

Each constructor must have both of their full-time drivers vacate their seat for two FP1 sessions across every campaign, meaning all 11 F1 teams should field a rookie driver on four separate occasions across their two cars.

The rules require each team to give an equal amount of opportunities to young drivers or racers with less experience in F1, with the term ‘rookie’ being defined as an individual who is yet to complete more than two F1 grands prix.

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Mercedes F1 star George Russell has been handed some harsh words of wisdom following a Belgian Grand Prix to forget.

The British racer faced the cameras on Sunday much earlier than the rest of the pack having crashed out of the 44-lap race on lap one after colliding with Lewis Hamilton at Turn 5.

Hamilton continued his race to cross the line P4 on Sunday, sending him up the championship standings into P2, overtaking Russell.

When the 28-year-old headed to the media pen immediately after the crash, he appeared to be holding back tears, telling Sky Sports F1’s Craig Slater: “The incident shouldn’t have happened if I had the speed down the straight..I’m very, very disappointed.

“I appreciate everyone’s working hard to solve the problem, but you know I’m stood here on lap five of the race, and felt like I was in a good position to fight for the lead into turn one, and then suddenly no power, and it’s all gone.”

Russell maintained throughout the following media sessions that after struggling in Spa, he has now ruled out his driving style being the issue, though team principal Toto Wolff was less keen to do so.

“These things can happen, whether you’re in the front, in the middle, or the back of the pack,” Wolff said about Russell’s unfortunate collision.

“George had a difficult weekend. Probably half of it is to be attributed to the power unit that wasn’t as good as it should have been on his side, and the other the other side maybe on the driving.”

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Windsor: Russell must focus on himself to get over Mercedes issues

Mercedes and Russell now have the unenviable task of attempting to unpack the boost issue Russell spoke of in Spa in just a matter of days, with the European double header continuing with this weekend’s Hungarian GP.

The problems Russell spoke of after his incident with Hamilton are unlikely to be fixed in time for his return to the Hungaroring, and former F1 team manager and analyst Peter Windsor thinks the Brit should completely switch off from his Mercedes simulator preparation instead.

Speaking in a clip which was posted to social media following the Belgian GP, Windsor questioned Russell’s claims of dealing with a boost issue last weekend despite the Brit clearly struggling with a lack of pace compared to his rivals on the straights.

When Windsor was reminded just how far behind Kimi Antonelli George Russell was during practice in Spa, Windsor said: “But you know what he said about that? He said, ‘We overestimated the grip [on the track in the sim].

“Well, you know, don’t use the sim as much then. Think about it. Spa, it does rain. The track goes green. You know, these things happen. Go there with an open mind.

“It’s the same with Oscar [Piastri]. You know, as I said last year, and I’ve been saying this, he’s completely lost because of the telemetry they keep using and the sims they keep doing. And that’s that’s the great pitfall.”

Windsor then suggested Russell should focus on himself moving forwards and not get distracted with the data of his championship leading team-mate, saying: “You think Kimi spends a massive amount of time looking at George’s telemetry? Exactly.

“He’s a young kid getting out there and he’s sniffing the air and getting in the race car and feeling the surface of the road and driving it. That’s what he needs. That’s what George needs to learn from Kimi.

“Go back to square one and just do that.”

Abandoning the use of the simulator is of course something that seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has had to do this season at Ferrari to find the answers to his own issues.

Since the 41-year-old his own place in the title fight.

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