Charles Leclerc keeps lid on frustration in Canadian GP fightback

Ewan Gale
Monday 20 June 2022 15:55

Charles Leclerc has revealed how he kept a lid on his frustration during a testing Canadian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver was forced to fight his way through from 19th on the grid after taking a penalty for a power unit change, starting ahead of only Yuki Tsunoda's AlphaTauri.

After making slow progress throughout the race, Leclerc utilised a late safety car period following the Japanese driver's crash out of the pits to secure fifth.

The result, coupled with Max Verstappen's victory, leaves the Monégasque 49 points adrift in the drivers' championship after once leading 46.

Recounting his comeback drive, Leclerc said: "It wasn't too bad.

"Unfortunately with the pit stop, this put us in a bit of a situation because we cleared the DRS train but then we got another DRS train after the slow pit stops which I had to push on the tyres and that cost me a little bit at the end.

"But it was just a race where I had to be patient. In the beginning, I was stuck behind a DRS train.

"In the middle part of the race, I was stuck behind Esteban [Ocon] who was on fresher tyres and was very good out of turn 10 so that was enough for him to keep me behind.

"When I got free air, pace was really good. It is like this."

Ferrari pit stop speed cost Leclerc dear

Leclerc's race prospects were hampered by a five-second pit stop that saw him drop behind Lance Stroll, Zhou Guanyu, Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo.

Following his earlier experience in the midfield DRS train, it forced Leclerc into extreme focus so as not to lose control of his emotions.

"It was all about thinking about the end of the race and not getting too frustrated because I just couldn't do anything when everyone has DRS," added Leclerc.

"I don't think there was any other good solution to get the free air but the pit stop cost us the free air we were searching for."