Charles Leclerc faced not only racing challenges at the US GP but also a quite literal pain.
Apart from expressing dissatisfaction over another miscalculated race strategy on Sunday and feeling aggrieved for being asked to allow his teammate Carlos Sainz to pass, Leclerc was further penalized due to an excessively worn ‘plank’.
Yet, overshadowing all these was an agonizing dental issue that persisted all through the Austin race weekend.
“I was on pretty strong painkillers since Thursday,” Leclerc revealed, as quoted by Bild newspaper.
“It was sometimes worse, sometimes better. But it didn’t affect me in the race.”
Leclerc indicated that the pain might stem from a progressively deteriorating infection related to a wisdom tooth – a potential concern given he was Friday’s pole-sitter and with the Mexico race just around the corner.
When queried about possible surgery to extract the problematic wisdom tooth, Leclerc responded: “I’m not sure yet.”
This dental predicament couldn’t have come at a more inconvenient time. After the race in Mexico, the F1 circus moves to Brazil, marking the third stop in a demanding overseas triple-header.
Only a week later, the racing action shifts to Las Vegas, closely followed by the season-culminating event in Abu Dhabi.
It’s a tight schedule with little room for a toothache,” noted journalist Silja Rulle.