Leclerc admits to 'worst weekend of my career’ amid struggles

Charles Leclerc did not try to soften the blow after Saturday’s Canadian Grand Prix qualifying, or sugarcoat his latest nightmare in Montreal.

Instead, the Ferrari driver delivered one of the bleakest self-assessments of his Formula 1 career.

After qualifying only eighth for Sunday’s race – while team-mate Lewis Hamilton secured fifth and looked significantly more comfortable throughout the weekend – Leclerc openly admitted he has been completely disconnected from his Ferrari since the very first lap in Montreal.

And the frustration pouring out of him was impossible to miss.

At a circuit where confidence is everything and walls punish hesitation instantly, Leclerc has looked uncomfortable, unsettled and increasingly defeated as the weekend unfolded. Every session appeared to deepen the sense that he and the SF-26 were operating on entirely different wavelengths.

By Saturday evening, the Monegasque sounded utterly drained.

‘I felt like I was going to put it into the wall’

“Honestly, it’s one of the worst weekends of my career, if not the worst,” Leclerc admitted after qualifying.

“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 did.

"The tyres were completely out of the window today. The brakes yesterday were not in the window as well. There was never, at any time, something that was just clicking and everything was right."

Those are extraordinary comments from a driver known for his ability to extract speed from difficult machinery.

Leclerc has often masked Ferrari’s weaknesses through sheer commitment over one lap, but in Montreal even that trademark confidence deserted him. The SF-26 never seemed to settle beneath him, leaving him constantly fighting instability, tyre issues and a total lack of rhythm.

The contrast with Hamilton only amplified the concern inside Ferrari’s garage.

While Hamilton briefly climbed to second during Q3 and ultimately secured fifth, Leclerc never looked capable of mounting a similar challenge.

Traffic compromised his first flying lap in the final session, leaving him with one realistic attempt – and although his eventual time was only just over a tenth slower than Hamilton’s, the incredibly tight field punished him brutally and dropped him to eighth on the grid.

Ferrari flashes pace — but Leclerc cannot access it

The painful part for Leclerc is that Ferrari’s pace has not looked entirely hopeless.

Earlier on Saturday, the Scuderia showed encouraging race speed during the Sprint, where Leclerc recovered to fifth despite spending much of the race trapped behind Oscar Piastri.

“In the Sprint, I think we paid the price for our starting position. The pace felt good, but I got stuck behind Oscar Piastri, who was very fast on the straights,” commented Leclerc.

But any optimism from the Sprint evaporated once qualifying began.

“Qualifying did not go well for me,” he said. “I just struggled to put the tyres in the right window and was sliding around in Q1 and Q2.

“In Q3, I managed to gain some confidence and felt a bit better in the car, but that final position isn’t what we are aiming for.”

That inability to consistently switch on the tyres has become one of Ferrari’s recurring themes this season – and in Montreal, where confidence over kerbs and under braking is non-negotiable, it completely undermined Leclerc’s weekend.

Read also:

• Hamilton bemoans Ferrari engine deficit: ‘We’re just at the mercy’

Meanwhile, Mercedes emerged as the benchmark package alongside McLaren, with Ferrari trailing by roughly three tenths at the sharp end. Hamilton managed to partially disguise that gap. Leclerc could not.

Still, despite the misery of the weekend so far, the Ferrari driver has not entirely abandoned hope heading into Sunday’s race – especially with unpredictable weather looming over Montreal.

"It will be tricky for everyone, especially if it is wet, so we will have to see how things unfold on Sunday,” Leclerc concluded.

Right now, though, Ferrari may simply be hoping the rain washes away a weekend Leclerc already seems desperate to forget.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook