Leclerc Demands Answers After ‘Horrible’ Canadian GP
The Ferrari driver calls for immediate clarity after one of his most frustrating weekends of the season.
Charles Leclerc was left utterly bewildered following the Canadian Grand Prix, openly labeling the event as the toughest weekend of his entire Formula 1 career.
While a fourth-place finish clawed back a decent haul of points for Scuderia Ferrari, the Monégasque driver cut a deeply bruised figure, admitting he felt completely helpless behind the wheel of his SF-26 from Friday practice right up to Sunday’s checkered flag.
A complete lack of feel leaves Leclerc searching for answers
Leclerc’s nightmare weekend in Montreal was plagued by a fundamental disconnect with his machinery.
After struggling with braking confidence on Friday, his issues quickly shifted to an absolute inability to get his tires into the correct operating window, leaving him four-tenths off pole in eighth on Saturday.
During the Grand Prix, Leclerc benefited from the high rate of attrition ahead to move up to fourth, but he spent the final stint simply cruising to the line, completely uncompetitive on raw pace.
Rather than hiding behind a top-four result, Leclerc was brutally honest about his lack of speed.
“It was a horrible, horrible weekend. I had already said it was probably the most difficult weekend so far of my Formula 1 career.” Leclerc admitted on Formula 1.com
“I’ve finished the race now and I can definitely say it’s the most difficult weekend of my career so far. I could never put the tyres in the right window, but it has nothing to do with the car of course, Lewis has done an incredible job and congratulations to him.
“On my side, I’ve just been struggling. I had no feeling with the car.”
The Ferrari driver made it clear that his final finishing position did not reflect his true competitive form on Sunday afternoon.
“The last 15-20 laps of the race are not very representative because I kind of just wanted to bring the car home. Before that, I was just still too slow and it’s not good enough,” the Monégasque driver added.
Hamilton’s brilliance provides both frustration and a roadmap for recovery
Adding to the complexity of the weekend was the performance on the other side of the Scuderia garage.
Lewis Hamilton enjoyed his finest outing in red, taking a brilliant second place and pushing Max Verstappen to the limit.
For Leclerc, seeing his veteran teammate maximize the SF-26’s recent Miami upgrade package is a bittersweet reality check as the grid heads next to Monaco and Barcelona.
“I think it’s both encouraging and frustrating. At least I know it’s in the car that we can do better, but honestly, looking at Lewis’ race and weekend, I don’t think there is any more to extract from this car.
“I think he’s done an exceptional job today. On my side, there’s plenty more to exploit, at least to get to Lewis’ level on a day like this.
“I will look into the data. I’ve obviously gone through difficult races where you analyse and you understand a lot out of those races, so that’s what I’ll try and do,” Leclerc concluded.
