Leclerc reveals need for painkillers for United States GP

Charles Leclerc has revealed that he was battling an intense toothache throughout the United States Grand Prix weekend.

The Ferrari driver looked competitive early in the weekend from the Circuit of the Americas as he bested his rivals to pole position for the race.

But the Grand Prix itself would be a tougher affair as Leclerc was the only driver in the field to complete the race on a one-stop strategy.

It dropped him to sixth place at the chequered flag, though his day got worse as a post-race investigation saw him disqualified from the results due to excessive wear on the rear skid blocks.

Toothache for Leclerc

The challenging Sunday wasn't the only difficulty Leclerc faced, however, as he was suffering from tooth pain during the event.

The Monégasque driver was on painkillers to battle the discomfort but asserted that it didn't impact his driving.

“I [was] on really big painkillers since Thursday,” he told media including RacingNews365.com.

“For some reason it was actually quite fine because I took the painkillers before the race.

“I've had times that were more intense so the wish was less but nothing that affected me inside the car, so it's fine. I had like a tooth infection inside, which I think is the wisdom tooth.

“I was quite a lot in pain on Thursday and Friday, then it calmed down. [During the race] it was OK.”