Charles Leclerc Urges Ferrari to Improve After Strategy Mishap at Canadian Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc expressed his disappointment with Ferrari’s decision-making after they overruled his tire preference, resulting in an 11th place qualification at the Canadian Grand Prix.

During the wet qualifying session in Montreal, Leclerc struggled with challenging conditions and felt that Ferrari was unnecessarily complicating matters. This incident adds to a series of questionable strategy choices by the team in recent years.

Leclerc emphasized the need to avoid repeating such mistakes, as they had cost him victories in previous seasons while battling Max Verstappen for the championship.

Despite changes to the strategy team under new boss Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari’s errors have persisted this season. In this particular case, Leclerc disagreed with the team’s decision during the second qualifying session on a drying track at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Leclerc communicated over the radio that he believed the track was suitable for slick, dry-weather tires and requested an immediate change before setting a time on the intermediate tires. However, Ferrari overruled him, asking him to complete a “banker” lap.

Although Leclerc followed the team’s instructions, his switch to slick tires did not yield an improvement in his time. As a result, he finished the session in 11th place, failing to advance to the top 10 shootout. He will start 10th due to a three-place grid penalty given to his teammate Carlos Sainz.

Interestingly, Williams driver Alex Albon, in a usually uncompetitive car, chose slick tires at the start of the session and ended up setting the fastest time. McLaren’s Lando Norris, also in a slower car compared to Ferrari, followed the strategy that Leclerc had suggested and finished the session in third place.

Leclerc expressed his frustration, stating that he had clearly indicated his preference for slick tires. He believed that going for slicks was the right choice, as evidenced by Albon’s performance. He felt that Ferrari’s decision-making put them in unnecessarily difficult situations and highlighted the importance of paying attention to details in such circumstances.

Leclerc intends to have an internal discussion with the team to understand what can be done differently. He acknowledged that this was not the first time they had found themselves on the wrong side of such situations.

Regarding his inability to improve on the slick tires compared to other drivers, Leclerc attributed it to factors like traffic and loss of tire temperature due to slowing down for other cars. He mentioned that going through such situations made the team’s position challenging.

Ferrari faced additional difficulties during the day, with Sainz’s qualifying position dropping from eighth to 11th due to a grid penalty for impeding Pierre Gasly of Alpine.

Looking ahead to the race, the weather is expected to be dry. Max Verstappen, the dominant championship leader who has won five out of seven races this season, starts in pole position, followed by Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. Alonso was realistic about his chances against Verstappen but hoped to narrow the gap.

Hamilton expressed his desire to challenge the top two drivers, Alonso and Verstappen, and exert pressure on at least one of them during the race.

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More about Ferrari strategy mishap

• Canadian Grand Prix Official Website
• BBC Sport – Canadian Grand Prix coverage
• Ferrari Official Website