Leclerc calls Canadian GP “one of the worst weekends” of his career as Ferrari struggles with tyre window and confidence
Charles Leclerc endured one of the most difficult Saturdays of his Formula 1 career in Montréal, describing the Canadian Grand Prix weekend as “one, if not the worst weekend of my career” in terms of car feeling and confidence.
While team‑mate Lewis Hamilton showed flashes of competitiveness before a last‑lap technical issue left him fifth on the grid, Leclerc’s qualifying session was defined by instability, lack of grip, and a complete inability to switch the tyres on.
Leclerc’s Sprint was shaped almost entirely by track position. Starting behind Oscar Piastri, he found himself stuck behind the McLaren, unable to use Ferrari’s stronger medium‑tyre pace.
He summarised the limitation succinctly: "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."
While Hamilton faded late after clipping the wall, Leclerc recovered to fifth—but the underlying discomfort with the car was already evident.
Qualifying only deepened Leclerc’s frustration. From Q1 onward, he struggled to bring the tyres into the correct operating window, reporting constant sliding and instability. At one point he even warned over the radio that he might “put it in the wall,” such was the unpredictability of the SF‑26 beneath him.
He explained the session in detail: "Qualifying did not go well for me. 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. I think the race will be tricky for everyone, especially if it is wet, so we will have to see how things unfold tomorrow."
But it was his post‑session reflection that revealed the true scale of his difficulties: "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."
He described a complete disconnect between driver and machine: "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 today.
"The brakes yesterday that were not in the window as well. There was never, at any time, something that was just clicking and everything was right."
Leclerc also acknowledged that Hamilton had managed to extract performance from the same package: "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."
