Ferrari's Montreal Mystery: Leclerc Stumped by Sudden Qualifying Struggles

Charles Leclerc has admitted that Ferrari simply “don’t understand” their lack of pace in dry conditions at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after both he and teammate Carlos Sainz were eliminated in Q2 during qualifying.

Leclerc had previously expressed confidence in Ferrari’s pace following initial practice sessions, describing the SF-24 as “very competitive” in all weather conditions. However, this optimism quickly evaporated as both drivers found themselves unable to progress beyond the second qualifying session in Montreal.

A Perplexing Decline

After a challenging final practice session, Leclerc and Sainz could manage only 11th and 12th place, respectively, during the crucial grid-deciding hour. Both drivers were visibly frustrated, complaining of a lack of grip while running on used soft tires. This unexpected drop in performance has left Ferrari scratching their heads.

Driver’s Perspective

When quizzed about the issues, Leclerc’s response was candid. “Just slow, slow all day. Similar issues also to this morning, I had like a sensor issue, which was very annoying. The management of the session as well wasn’t the best, I think. All in all, it’s been a tough session,” he admitted. “I would say that the biggest problem is the pace. We are so slow in the dry at the moment, we don’t understand.”

It’s particularly baffling given Ferrari’s recent run of form. Leclerc went on to comment, “It’s a bit strange to go from a really, really good weekend in Monaco in terms of pace, and then get here and be on the back foot. We’ll look into it.”

Looking Ahead

Despite the qualifying setback, Leclerc remains cautiously optimistic about the race itself. “I’m not sure. I still feel confident that tomorrow, in the race, we can put everything together and have a better result,” he remarked. “However, until now we haven’t proved it in the dry, so let’s see what the conditions are, and we’ll try to maximize the result.”

His priority, for now, is clear: “We just need to make sure that we take the maximum points available. This weekend we haven’t been great. We’ll focus on that after the weekend, to understand where we lacked. For now, the best thing we can do is focus on tomorrow.”

Team Struggles

Carlos Sainz echoed similar concerns, pondering where Ferrari’s pace has vanished to between the Monaco Grand Prix and Canada. Speaking about the sessions, he said, “Very tough. I think from FP3, we saw we were going to struggle around this track. As soon as we didn’t do a perfect job in quali, we are out in Q2.”

Sainz elaborated on the issues, “I was struggling quite a lot with grip, with the feeling, and we were on, honestly, a very difficult balance and a very difficult level of grip for the car. It was very easy to make mistakes out there. If you would have told me before the Grand Prix how difficult it would have been, I wouldn’t have trusted or believed it. Then, after FP3, we knew it was going to be a tough quali.”

Looking to Race Day

Sainz hopes that the struggles faced during qualifying won’t carry over into the race. “I hope it’s a quali thing and we’re going to be more competitive in the race, although we saw last year how tough it is to overtake. We’ll give it our best shot.”

This scenario has clearly thrown a wrench into Ferrari’s works, and the team will need to conduct a thorough analysis post-race to understand and rectify these unforeseen issues. Until then, all eyes will be on how they fare come race day.

Stay tuned for more updates and insights as the Canadian Grand Prix unfolds, and see if Ferrari can mount a comeback.