Charles Leclerc warned over 'critical' races as Lewis Hamilton threat grows

Former F1 driver Karun Chandok has stated the next three grands prix are “critical” for Charles Leclerc to keep momentum on his side of the garage.

The Monegasque has been unable to match the results of team-mate Lewis Hamilton of late, with the seven-time champion winning his first race with the team last time out in Barcelona.

Leclerc has also found himself in the barrier too frequently for his liking with shunts at the last two events.

Assessing his recent run of disappointing form, Chandhok told Sky F1: “Monaco was a massive disappointment for him.

“He was there with Lewis, but then complained of brake issues all weekend long, had a crash, then had this crash in qualifying in Barcelona, again his own mistake.

“He turned into Turn 4 a little bit shallower than he had on his previous runs, ended up on the dusty part of the track, and then off.

“He was fast again in Barcelona, same as in Monte Carlo - crashed in qualifying, of course, in Monte Carlo as well.”

Hamilton currently leads Leclerc by 40 points in the championship and has been labelled as Mercedes' biggest threat since winning in Barcelona two weeks ago.

Chandhok has insisted Leclerc must focus on overcoming the deficit to his team-mate in the coming rounds or risk seeing an intra-team change over where Ferrari places its priorities.

“This is where Charles has got to try and just get a bit more control of his own season,” he said.

“We're at a phase where we're counting down to the summer break.

“We're going to be here, we're in Silverstone for the British Grand Prix next weekend, and then Spa. 

“These three weekends are critical for Spa for Charles not to lose the internal team momentum.”