Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc participated in the United States Grand Prix while relying on pain relief medication due to a severe tooth infection that had been causing him intense pain throughout the entire Austin week. The Ferrari man secured pole position on Friday afternoon, finished in third place in Saturday’s sprint race, and then came in sixth in Sunday’s main race at the Circuit of the Americas
Upon completing the weekend’s races in Austin, the driver from Monaco disclosed that he had been grappling with this dental issue throughout the week.
“I had a tooth infection inside,” Charles Leclerc admitted. “I think it’s the wisdom tooth. I was quite a lot in pain Thursday, Friday, then it calmed down. Today it was OK.”
The Monegasque, uncertain whether a tooth extraction might be necessary, mentioned that the intensity of his pain had varied over the course of the week: “I’ve been on really big painkillers since Thursday. For some reason now it’s actually quite fine, as I took painkillers before the race,” he said Sunday evening. I’ve had times that were quite intense and others that was less, but nothing that affected me inside the car.” – he continued.
The race in Austin kicks off a series of three consecutive events, with competitions in Mexico and Brazil scheduled for the following two weeks. Following this, there will be a one-week break before a back-to-back race schedule, commencing with the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix and concluding with the season’s final event, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.