Charles Leclerc will use Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s information from the Canadian Grand Prix to search out solutions for “probably the most troublesome weekend” of his Components 1 profession.
Though the 28-year-old took a stable factors haul with fourth on Sunday, Leclerc was persistently off the tempo as he completed over 30 seconds behind runner-up Hamilton.
It was solely via George Russell’s retirement from the lead plus McLaren making a large number with each automobiles that Leclerc was capable of end so excessive up, having struggled all through the weekend.
The Monegasque was outqualified by Hamilton for the dash race, and though he jumped forward within the shorter contest – fifth to the Briton’s sixth – he misplaced out to his team-mate once more in grand prix qualifying.
Hamilton began Sunday’s race in fifth, a tenth forward of eighth-placed Leclerc, resulting in the seven-time world champion’s greatest grand prix end result since becoming a member of Ferrari in 2025.
“It was a horrible, horrible weekend,” mentioned Leclerc, who made his F1 debut in 2018. “I had already mentioned [post-qualifying on Saturday] it was in all probability probably the most troublesome weekend to date of my Components 1 profession. I’ve completed the race now and I can positively say it’s probably the most troublesome weekend of my Components 1 profession to date.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Picture by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Pictures
“By no means may put the tyres in the correct window. It has nothing to do with the automobile in fact, Lewis has achieved an unimaginable job and congratulations to him. On my aspect I’ve simply been struggling, I had no feeling with the automobile.
“The great factor, the one constructive of the weekend, is that I’ve received Lewis in the identical automobile and I can take a look at what he did this weekend and attempt to get solutions on why I used to be simply struggling a lot.
“The final 15, 20 laps of the race weren’t very consultant as I form of simply needed to convey the automobile residence, however earlier than that I used to be simply too sluggish. It’s not adequate.”
It’s not exactly clear but why Hamilton achieved a greater end result than Leclerc, a rarity of their time as team-mates, however the 41-year-old did change his strategy for Canada by not utilizing Ferrari’s simulator.
Hamilton felt it lacked correlation to real-world circumstances at tracks this yr and he took the identical strategy for spherical two in China, the positioning of his solely different podium in 2026.
However whereas the simulator-free strategy could have precipitated him to enhance, it doesn’t clarify the struggles of Leclerc, who merely labelled Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as one in every of his ‘bogey tracks’.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Picture by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Pictures through Getty Pictures
“Montreal isn’t a monitor the place traditionally I have been notably sturdy,” mentioned Leclerc, whose one and solely podium in Canada got here in 2019.
“A bit like Melbourne, Melbourne and listed here are two tracks the place I battle notably so much with my driving model, the rhythm of the corners does not match nicely with my driving model.
“Should you placed on prime of that the problems we have had on the brakes on Friday, I by no means actually received the rhythm on Friday, after which on Saturday it was extra in regards to the tyres, however the tyres are the identical for everyone.
“It isn’t like I used to be in a a lot worse place in comparison with Lewis, however I simply had zero feeling and I could not take the rhythm – immediately was no exception!”
The end result leaves Leclerc third within the championship, three factors above fourth-placed Hamilton, whereas Ferrari is second within the constructors’ standings, 72 factors behind Mercedes.
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