Charles Leclerc minimizes the damage in Montreal

Charles Leclerc can’t take any more of accumulating so much bad luck. The Monegasque appeared dismayed after the race. Despite a great comeback and the honorary title of driver of the day, the points aren’t coming.

The number 16 had left in penultimate position after a double penalty for exceeding the annual limit set by the regulations for engine component changes. The task ahead looked challenging for the Monegasque.

Author of a good start on hard tires, Leclerc began his comeback by overtaking Latifi, Gasly and then Stroll in the first three laps. Then, the early pit stops of Vettel and Magnussen, and Perez’s retirement, allowed him to climb up to 13th place when the virtual safety car was deployed after the Red Bull driver’s breakdown.

The rest is more complicated with a DRS train formed by Albon, Bottas, and Norris just ahead of him, making overtaking difficult until the virtual safety car is deployed again due to Mick Schumacher’s mechanical retirement. Once again, Leclerc does not pit, even if it means missing out on a free stop, and slots into eighth position on the restart.

A superb overtaking maneuver at the last corner on Bottas earns Ferrari a position, but it is followed by a nightmare for Charles Leclerc. For 20 laps, he remains stuck behind Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, unable to overtake the formidable French car with its impressive straight-line speed.

Another missed stop at Ferrari

At the end of the 42nd lap, Leclerc finally enters the pit lane with worn-out hard tires, but the Scuderia mechanics make a mistake and the pit stop lasts five long seconds. Result: the Monegasque driver comes out behind a train of four cars in twelfth position, while a successful pit stop would have allowed him to rejoin the track just in front of them.

However, Charles Leclerc had an extremely performing car and an exceptional driving skill that allowed him to successfully overtake the four drivers ahead of him one by one. After the safety car period in the 49th lap caused by Tsunoda, Leclerc came out in 7th place, behind the two Alpine cars.

And in two turns, the French cars are overtaken by two superb maneuvers in the hairpin of turn 10. Charles Leclerc is then fifth, and he will remain so until the end of the race.

With numerous overtakes and a blistering pace, Charles Leclerc could have hoped for better without a missed pit stop and twenty laps spent behind a challenging-to-overtake Alpine. The Monegasque described the race as highly frustrating at the finish. He leaves Montreal with 10 points and now trails Verstappen by 49 units. A significant gap that could be a sign of a championship already decided.

However, let’s not forget that Verstappen was 46 points behind Leclerc after the Australian Grand Prix. With still 13 races to go, anything is still possible.