Explained: Charles Leclerc’s odd issue which left him holding helmet

Charles Leclerc was plagued with “helmet lift” woes during opening practice at the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver reported he was struggling with airflow problems inside his cockpit which disrupted his run plan and left him frustrated throughout the first hour of running at Imola.

“I’ve got so much left at the point into Turn 1,” Leclerc informed his team before asking, “is not a quick one to put a little shield or whatever?”

After coming in to the pits, Ferrari added a small wind shield just in front of his cockpit in the hope of improving the issue.

However, Leclerc was still struggling when he returned to the track and was even seen holding onto his helmet on the run down to Turn 1 at one point.

"Helmet lift is horrible,” he stated.

Leclerc later added: “The screen is just too small. There is no difference.”

Sky Sports F1 pundit Jamie Chadwick said the issue should be solved in the gap between practice sessions.

“It should be a quick fix if you know exactly the amount you need to change,” she explained.

“His helmet is effectively lifting off his head, so it feels like it’s only being held on by the strap that you have underneath, and that is a horrible feeling.

“I’m not surprised he is complaining a lot about it. It’s the worst thing and not what you want to experience going down into Tamburello.

“They’ve obviously tried to fix it with a little lip, it didn’t work. They’ve gone again with another step.

“The problem is he just lost time there by going in and out and not being comfortable, you are not focusing on setting up the car or what changes you actually need to make. So a very scrappy session.”

It has been a far from ideal start to the weekend for Leclerc, who was absent from Thursday’s media day after he felt unwell.

Leclerc skipped his media commitments in order to rest and recover, ensuring he could take place in Friday’s practice sessions.

He ended FP1 12th in the timesheet and over half a second off the pace.

Teammate Lewis Hamilton had a better session and finished fifth, just 0.096s off the pace set by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

But both Ferrari drivers were seen running wide or bouncing over the kerbs at the classic Italian track as they appeared to struggle with understeer at times in their upgraded SF-25.