Charles Leclerc endured a miserable Sunday at the Spanish Grand Prix for the second season in a row, with the Monegasque having finished eleventh at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Leclerc’s P11 finish marked a weekend he won’t be remembering anytime soon, with the 25-year-old having struggled with his car during qualifying and the race.
Following his shock Q1 exit on Saturday, Leclerc started the race from pit-lane after Ferrari changed the entire rear of his SF-23, in an attempt to discover what cost him so much time on Saturday.
It seemingly didn’t do the trick, as the Monegasque was unable to recover into the top 10, marking his third point-less race of the season.
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Leclerc remains seventh in the Drivers’ Championship but is now 128 points behind reigning World Champion Max Verstappen, who cruised to his fifth win of the year.
Ferrari’s miserable season is seemingly starting to get to the team’s star driver, with an Instagram account having discovered what appears to be a grey hair on the back of his head.
@F1_trolls labelled this as the “Ferrari effect”, with Leclerc certainly not smiling as things stand.
“Charles getting grey hair aged 25…” wrote the account, along with a screenshot of the driver.
“The Ferrari effect.”
Leclerc will perhaps be glad that there is no race next weekend, with the Ferrari driver now having a fortnight to prepare himself for the Canadian Grand Prix.
With him being for certain out of the title fight, it’s difficult to see where Leclerc will gain motivation from for the remainder of the season, especially as Mercedes’ new concept appears to be working.
Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz was clearly slower than both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who both overtook the Spaniard with ease.
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Sainz could do nothing to hold on to a spot on the rostrum; however, he was at least able to beat both Aston Martin drivers.
Ferrari need to quickly discover what cost Leclerc so much time in qualifying, with him having looked like a threat throughout free practice.
It was only last year where Leclerc claimed pole in Barcelona, before he suffered a power unit failure whilst miles ahead of the field.