Leclerc reveals extreme extent of Canadian GP engine woes

Charles Leclerc has detailed the extent of the engine issues he was battling on track before retiring from the Canadian Grand Prix.

After enduring a difficult qualifying session, Leclerc lined up outside the top 10 for the start of the race, as did team-mate Carlos Sainz.

However, Leclerc soon voiced concern over a power unit issue that was hampering his progress.

The problem would ultimately result in his retirement from the race - but prior to parking up, Leclerc revealed he was doing heavy management in an attempt to fix the impairment.

“I don't know what happened,” Leclerc told media including RacingNews365. 

“I think it was six-tenths [per lap], but then some laps it was 1.2 seconds, sometimes it was 1.5 seconds.

“Every time I went on power, I did not know what I would get.

“First of all, it was very difficult to drive. It was very frustrating because on the straights I got overtaken by everybody.

“And it was very annoying, because I had 10 or 15 switches per lap to change to try and reset everything and to try to make it work.”

Leclerc found issue easier to manage in the wet

With the race getting underway in wet conditions, Leclerc revealed the slower pace helped to mask Ferrari's disadvantage.

However as the track began to dry out, Leclerc was easily overtaken on the straights as the Monegasque also struggled to keep his car on the track while toggling with his steering wheel settings.

“In the first part of the race, I think we did quite a good job managing [the problem],” he said. 

“Because we were in wet conditions, we could recover in the corners, so I was still believing we could finish in the points.

“And then as soon as it dried up, I was still lacking in the straights.

“I found it a bit better when it was fully wet. The tricky part was when it was half dry, half wet, you’ve got to look at your steering wheel. 

“Then you've got only one line and if you are off by two or three centimetres, you are done. That was very tricky.”