"Last weekend was tough," Leclerc reflects on Chinese Grand Prix

On the back of a tough weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc insists that the Scuderia will need to "reset" and "turn the situation around" ahead of next weekend's race in Japan.

Having started the Chinese Grand Prix from P6 on the grid, Charles Leclerc gained a place at the start, overtaking reigning champion Max Verstappen into Turn 1. However, the Monegasque made contact with his new team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Turn 2, and as a result of the incident he picked up a serious damage to his front wing endplate.

Despite considering a front wing change during the pit stop, Ferrari and Leclerc elected to continue with the damaged part as a longer pit stop would have seen Leclerc fall down the order, and the sprint race saw drivers struggle to complete an overtaking move due to the overheating front tyres and turbulent wake.

In the end, the Monegasque displayed a strong pace, and finished fifth with his damaged front wing. However, the FIA noted after the race that his SF-25 was found underweight during the post-race technical investigation.

The Jo Bauer-led FIA technical group replaced Leclerc's damaged front wing with a spare part which was 0.2kg heavier, albeit his SF-25 was still one kg under the minimum weight limit after 2.0 litres of fuel were removed from the car. In the end, Leclerc was disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix.

Commenting on his tough weekend in China, the eight-time F1 race winner noted: "Last weekend was really tough. We’ve got to reset and work hard to turn the situation around in Japan and I’m sure we will.

"A big thank you though to the amount of support you gave me during the weekend, it always surprises me to have such support in China and it means a lot,"