Charles Leclerc trusts the pace of his F1-75 and therefore is not worried about Max Verstappen's lead - even though the Dutchman is 49 points ahead
Charles Leclerc was punished at the Canadian Grand Prix for making engine changes, so he started from the back of the pack. He managed to finish the race in fifth position, taking advantage of the safety-car intervention. However, the Monegasque saw Max Verstappen win again and reach 175 points at the top of the World Driver's Championship. But is it something to worry about? According to him, no.
"I'm very motivated, because I know the pace I have in my car," Leclerc said. "I'm not worried, I'm just extremely motivated to finally have a clean weekend and show that we are here and that we are strong," he added.
Before the Canadian GP, the #16 was coming from a string of four pole-positions won, but was unable to convert any of them into victory. Abandonments and, above all, a bad strategy by Ferrari in Monaco ended his chances. That's why, from now on, finishing races will be the most important thing.
"Obviously, Red Bull also had some problems. So definitely reliability will be very important. But that's what we need. Whenever we have tougher weekends, like in Canada, just go for some good points. That's what we did," he commented.
Finally, he talked about his race in Montreal. Leclerc took a long time to overtake Esteban Ocon. He even passed him, but had to repeat the maneuver some time later.
"Honestly, in the first part of the race, there were no problems with the traction, it was just that everyone had DRS, so I couldn't do anything," he explained.
"And then in the middle of the stint there was a big traction problem, but that was only because Esteban had the new tires, and in turn 10, that's where you need the tires, he had a lot more grip than I did. We had a problem in a pit-stop, which made our life much more difficult because I came back, again, in a DRS 'train'. So considering all that, P5 was the best [we could have done]," he closed.
The result puts Leclerc 49 points behind Max Verstappen, who currently has 175 points at the top of the Drivers' World Championship. Formula One returns on July 3 for the British GP at Silverstone.