Hungaroring F2: Leclerc didn't expect record qualifying pole

Leclerc was one of four drivers who opted to wait for the initial qualifying runs to be completed before venturing out, but the session was red-flagged shortly after they did so when Sean Gelael spun out at Turn 1 and brought out the red flags.

That meant Leclerc had to complete his first flying lap on rubber that had already been through a cycle of laps, but he went to on secure pole ahead of DAMS driver Oliver Rowland using the same set of tyres.

The pole was Leclerc's seventh in a row at the start of the season, breaking McLaren Formula 1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne's previous record achieved across the 2014-'15 seasons in what was then called GP2.

"It looked quite bad after the red flag because we went out on the first set of tyres and we did an out [lap] and then straightaway had the red flag," he told Autosport.

"We went out with the same set of tyres, so we didn't expect to do the best lap time there.

"But actually the lap was really good, I'm very happy about the lap.

"Then we went on the second set, [but] I over-pushed at Turn 2, which made me lose too much time to improve."

Ferrari F1 junior Leclerc said it felt "amazing" to have beaten Vandoorne's record of consecutive poles, and that he had already set his sights on another category record.

"Seventh pole in a row feels very good," he said.

"It really feels amazing, but now the next step is to have the record of feature race wins that we will push for tomorrow."

The overall F2/GP2 pole record is the eight held jointly by Vandoorne and Leclerc's Prema predecessor Pierre Gasly, something the Monegasque racer says he will "will definitely push" to match in the remaining four qualifying sessions of the 2017 F2 season.