Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc raced U.S. GP with painkillers for tooth infection

AUSTIN, Texas — Charles Leclerc competed in the United States Grand Prix with the help of painkillers after suffering all week with intense pain caused by a dental infection.

Leclerc took pole position on Friday, finished 12th in Saturday’s sprint race and then sixth in Sunday’s main race.

After arriving at the end of Austin’s racing schedule on Sunday, the Monaco native revealed he had been dealing with a problem all week.

“I had a tooth infection inside,” Leclerc said. “I think it’s the wisdom tooth. I had a lot of pain Thursday, Friday, then it calmed down. Today I was fine.”

Leclerc, who was unsure whether he would need to have the tooth removed, said pain levels fluctuated over the week.

“I’ve been taking very heavy painkillers since Thursday. For some reason now everything is fine because I took some before the race,” he said Sunday evening. I had some pretty intense moments and others less, but nothing that affected me inside the car.”

The Austin race is the first in a triple series, with events in Mexico and Brazil to follow over the next two weeks.

There then remains a week off before a doubleheader, which begins with the new Las Vegas Grand Prix and ends with the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.