Ferrari's troubles show no sign of abating at Canadian Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc must be preparing for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix with a stomach churning mixture of elation and trepidation.

No one who has ever gone to Montreal at this time can fail to have a spring in their step.

The weather, the party atmosphere, the availability of quality hotels, restaurants and entertainment lifts the spirit along with the proximity of a throbbing city centre and its night life just 30 minutes from the island track.

Despite the fastest car, the 24-year-old has every reason to fear the next turn of the page in this season’s championship story.

Especially since the high speed street track has a frightening reputation as a car wrecker.

Recent chapters of the tale in Miami, Spain, Monaco and Baku have all bought the worst kind of news – defeat for Ferrari.

Losing has a special kind of agony when you know you (or more accurately your team) threw away a genuine chance to tuck away 25 valuable points. And did it four times in a row.

Ferrari are becoming experts at that. There’s the strategy error in Monaco, the woes of Barcelona, two engine failures in Baku all started off by Leclerc’s own mistake in Imola.

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Ferrari have established a pattern as being fast but fragile. Mechanically weak and tactically friable.

That four Ferrari-powered cars in three teams failed to make the finish in Baku made for grim reading in the aftermath.

One paddock theory speculates it’s down to pandemic stresses wrought on Maranello’s suppliers. A nice idea and Ferrari are always happy to spread the blame away from their own door.

It’s a brutal statistic but Max Verstappen has now won more times this season when Leclerc has been on pole than the Ferrari driver himself.

So there’s more chance the Dutchman will win if Leclerc