Ferrari's Nightmare Unfolds in Canada: Leclerc and Sainz Falter Hard

It was an utterly disastrous day for Ferrari at the Canadian Grand Prix. The team faced a double DNF just two weeks after a remarkable victory and double podium finish in Monaco.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who were already grappling with a difficult qualifying session that saw them start from P11 and P12, faced an uphill battle from the midfield. Neither could make significant ground as the race wore on.

Leclerc’s woes mounted when his SF-24 began to encounter engine issues. The team opted for a risky switch to slick tyres on Lap 29, hoping for a stroke of luck in the changing weather conditions. However, this gamble did not pay off, and by Lap 43, Leclerc was forced to pit again and retire the car.

Reflecting on his emotional state post-race, Leclerc noted, “Honestly, there’s not much more to say apart from the engine issue that cost us everything. At one point we tried to go on the slicks, knowing the gamble wouldn’t pay off, but we had to try something because, with the engine issues we had, we would've been out of points anyway.”

He added, “It was extremely tricky to manage all the engine changes as instructed by the team, especially losing a second and a half per straight. We need to delve into this engine issue because it’s going to be a problem for the rest of the season.”

Leclerc stressed the importance of perspective: “I think we shouldn't overreact with the car’s pace. You have good weekends and bad weekends. We missed Q3 by just three hundredths, and while we didn’t feel great with the car, we need to understand what went wrong and improve.”

“Today, the pace wasn’t bad in the corners; the engine issue was just too significant to ignore. As much as we didn’t overreact after Monaco, we shouldn’t overreact now, but this one hurts. It’s big points for the team that we’re losing, and engine-wise, it’s a significant matter we need to tackle,” Leclerc concluded.

Carlos Sainz faced his own set of challenges after spinning at the exit of Turn 7 and collecting the Williams of Alex Albon. Like his teammate, Sainz reflected on a tough race: “Not a lot of pace this weekend, even on the inter tyre – we expected maybe to be a bit stronger. But there was a lot of sliding and no feeling with the car.”

“Once it dried out, we started making some progress, but I made a driver mistake aiming to stay in the DRS train and overtake. It wasn’t ideal – not our weekend by any stretch. We’ll try to reset and go again.” Sainz, like Leclerc, remains optimistic. He emphasized, “This weekend, we were not on the right end of the pace. We struggled with the balance and the pace in any condition. However, I think it’s a one-off, and in Barcelona, we should be back to where we normally are.”

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• What the teams said – Race day in Canada
• What the teams said – Qualifying in Canada