Leclerc unable to explain pace deficit to Hamilton in Montreal
24th May 2026Charles Leclerc admitted Ferrari have “got to work” to understand his struggles at the Canadian Grand Prix after another difficult session left him qualifying P8 in Montreal.
Feature image credit: Ferrari Media Centre
The Ferrari driver has had a frustrating weekend so far, consistently off the pace of teammate Lewis Hamilton who has enjoyed one of his strongest performances of the season so far.
Leclerc started behind Hamilton in the Sprint but did recover to finish ahead of his teammate, who was compromised on the final few laps after being passed by Oscar Piastri. The gap remained in Grand Prix Qualifying as he ended the session in P8 and four tenths away from pole-sitter George Russell.
The Monegasque driver admitted he was struggling to understand why he had failed to find the same comfort with the car as Hamilton.
Hamilton says Ferrari finally allows him to “feel like myself”
Leclerc said: “It’s strange but it’s the situation I find myself in at the moment and I’ve got to work on that.
“We’ll look into everything. Honestly, for now, I just have a very strange feeling with the car so we’ll look into everything. Surely I can do better things, but it just felt very off.”
Leclerc revealed he’s been lacking confidence with his car since the opening laps of the weekend in FP1. Tyre temperatures appear and keeping them in the correct operating window seem to be at the centre of the Monegasque’s issues.
He continued: “Honestly, it’s one, if not the worst weekend of my career. Since FP1, I haven’t had one lap where I could feel the car.
“I just felt like I was going to put it into the wall in every single corner I do just because the tyres were completely out of the window.
“The brakes on Friday were not in the window as well. There was never, at any time, something that was just clicking and everything was right.”
“It came from nowhere” – Russell reacts to dramatic Canadian pole
Leclerc pointed to Hamilton as an example of Ferrari’s package being strong but stressed the need to analyse his own issues ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix, with tricky conditions expected.
The Ferrari driver even called the weekend in Montreal the worst of his career.
He added: “But surely Lewis managed to do that throughout Qualifying and I didn’t.”
“I’ll analyse on what I can do to be better in these kinds of conditions to just switch those tyres on, because it’s been really a nightmare so far.”
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Hamilton says Ferrari finally allows him to “feel like myself”
- “It came from nowhere” – Russell reacts to dramatic Canadian pole
- Sainz says Williams “underdelivered” after Canadian qualifying setback
- George Russell takes Canadian Grand Prix pole with Mercedes front row
- Russell takes Canada GP sprint victory as Antonelli disagrees
- Steward’s grant Lawson and Albon permission to race in Canadian Sprint
- Hamilton credits revised preparation after strongest qualifying display of season
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