Charles Leclerc labelled the Canadian Grand Prix the toughest weekend of his Formula 1 career after being comprehensively outpaced by Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n
Hamilton has closed the gap to his Ferrari teammate to three points in the early Drivers\u2019 standings, and the seven-time world champion now leads the early head-to-head 3-2 against Leclerc in race trim.<\/p>\n
Charles Leclerc admits Lewis Hamilton benchmark exposed Ferrari struggles in Canada<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n Despite his struggles, Leclerc<\/a> earned a fourth-place finish in cold conditions at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Sunday, with both McLarens having faltered on strategy and George Russell retiring from the lead of the race.<\/p>\n Finishing 34 seconds behind his teammate at the line, and a fastest lap seven tenths off Hamilton\u2019s best, Leclerc admitted his struggles all weekend were such that it puts Canada 2026 as the toughest round of his Formula 1 career to date.<\/p>\n Asked if his finishing position was a \u2018reward\u2019 for working hard in the race, Leclerc was not so sure.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t take that as a reward, I say that it\u2019s more out of luck than a reward of my hard work and incredible job,\u201d he said after the race.<\/p>\n \u201cProbably the most difficult weekend out of my Formula 1 career. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had zero feeling with the tyres since FP1 first lap until the very last lap of the race, and even in the last 15 laps I was driving a second to a second and a half off the pace just to not take risk, and even in these kind of laps I still had moments where I was like \u2018that\u2019s too close for comfort\u2019. It\u2019s been an incredibly difficult weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cThe good thing is that I\u2019ve got a great benchmark on a weekend like this, with Lewis being absolutely incredible this weekend, and having an amazing feeling with the car, so I can obviously analyse and understand why there was that much difference, but yeah, it\u2019s been very tricky.<\/p>\n \u201cThe result is much better than the feeling I had in the car, but in those kind of weekends when the feeling is not there, my job is to maximise the points, which, with a bit of luck, actually P4 is a good result, considering the very bad sensations.\u201d<\/p>\n More analysis from the Canadian Grand Prix<\/p>\n Canadian GP driver ratings: Antonelli imperfect in victory as McLaren implodes<\/a><\/p>\n Canadian GP conclusions: Seeds of Mercedes discontent, British bias, embracing unpredictability<\/a><\/p>\n While Ferrari still held a disadvantage to the dominant Mercedes W17 over the weekend, Hamilton being within a reasonable distance of eventual race winner, Kimi Antonelli, left Leclerc with cause for encouragement moving forward.<\/p>\n The main step to assess this, though, will be as and when Ferrari can challenge Mercedes at the front.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a step forward,\u201d Leclerc said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Lewis has done an exceptional job this weekend as well, but it\u2019s a good thing that at least Mercedes didn\u2019t pull away too much.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know, though, how much Kimi was pushing, so we\u2019ll have to see the day where we put him a bit more under pressure, but we weren\u2019t too far [behind], considering all the upgrades they brought.\u201d<\/p>\n Leclerc sits third in the Drivers\u2019 standings<\/a> after the Montreal weekend on 75 points, with Hamilton up to fourth where he\u2019s just three points down on his teammate.<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n