WATCH: Charles Leclerc’s front wing gets damaged after making contact with Oscar Piastri on Lap 1 at Austrian GP

Charles Leclerc woes continue into the Austrian GP weekend.

WATCH: Charles Leclerc’s front wing gets damaged after making contact with Oscar Piastri on Lap 1 at Austrian GP

Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri (Via: Imago, X/FerrarNews, screenshot)

Ferrari arrived with high hopes in Austria to take the battle to Red Bull and McLaren. However, the weekend has not favored Charles Leclerc, as the Monegasque had a mediocre Sprint race. Even in the main race, the stroke of bad luck returned as the 26-year-old got pinched in the run to turn one and damaged his front wing after contact with Oscar Piastri.

Charles Leclerc won his home race in Monaco and emerged as the main contender to take on the fight against Red Bull. However, after this euphoric victory, he suffered a DNF in Canada. He returned to the paddock with high optimism in Spain but had contact with Carlos Sainz in the race. Subsequently, the trifecta of woes now continues into the Austrian GP.

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The Monegasque found himself without a front wing endplate after his incident with Oscar Piastri.

FS Video

Leclerc had an underwhelming qualifying performance yesterday and started P6 on the grid. Regardless, he aimed to get onto the podium during the race. But after his contact with the Aussie, this seemed impossible as he had to get his front wing replaced on lap one and found himself more than 40 seconds of the lead when he made his pitstop.

Oscar Piastri remains unscathed from the contact with Charles Leclerc

While Leclerc emerged with significant damage, fans thought that similarly, Piastri would be having some bodywork damage as he jumped over the sausage curbs. Anyhow, the 23-year-old reckoned that he remained unscathed from the clash with the Monegasque.

Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri (via IMAGO)

McLaren asked the Aussie regarding the status of the car.

I don't know if I have damage, it feels OK at the moment.
Oscar Piastri said over the radio

Piastri responded to the team’s question by claiming he did not reckon he had any damage. Moreover, a few laps later, he made a move on Sergio Perez, confirming that he did not have any damage that could have potentially hindered his race.

As it stands, Piastri is running P6 and in strong contention for big points. On the contrary, Leclerc stands P13, having already made three pitstops around the halfway mark of the race, and is on a peculiar strategy.

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