Once again, Ferrari is having to deal with a disastrous race weekend, this time at the 2023 Canadian GP. After Carlos Sainz crashed out in Q3 and then impeded two drivers during qualifying, Charles Leclerc was left fuming at his team after yet another strategy error led to his elimination in Q2.
The conditions were really tricky during qualifying with rain playing a major role in affecting proceedings. All the drivers did their Q1 laps on the intermediate tires. However, the rain seemed to slow down a bit towards the end of the first part of the session.
A few minutes into Q2, the rain stopped, and a dry line was being formed on the track. Williams was the first to react to it and put Alex Albon out on soft tires. Most other teams followed them. Ferrari, on the other hand, did not allow Leclerc to come in and put on the dry tires, even after the Monegasque specifically asked for it.
Charles Leclerc claims that Ferrari made it difficult for him
After the qualifying session, Sky Sports F1 asked Leclerc if the conditions were too tricky to read on the track. Leclerc replied that in all honesty, judging the track conditions was not too difficult for him. He said, “It was not difficult to read that the track was dry, I said it in outlap. I don’t know why we stayed on inters on a track completely dry.”
Leclerc was very blunt with his words as he said to Sky Sports, “We make our life way more difficult, it should’ve been an easy session.” He continued and revealed that it was quite frustrating for him that the team did not listen to him. “It’s frustrating and I hope they will listen to me a bit more in the future,” he finished.
Leclerc got on the radio as soon as he had realized that there was a possibility to put on the slicks. However, his race engineer replied that Max Verstappen was still using Intermediates and therefore Leclerc must set at least one lap on the Inters.
Later, when the team finally put on the soft tires, it started raining again. Leclerc found absolutely no grip during his last Q2 lap, leaving him stuck in P11 and thus getting disqualified from Q2 in the process.
Leclerc cannot reach Q3 twice in a row
This is the second time in a row that Charles Leclerc has failed to make it into Q3. The Spanish GP qualifying two weeks ago went even worse for the Monegasque after he was knocked out In Q1. Leclerc had to start that race from P19.
Leclerc complained after the session that something was off with the car and the left-hand corners were undrivable. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur was supportive of Leclerc and had commented that if his driver feels there is an issue, he believes him.
Strategy errors at Ferrari have become way too common in the last few years. To reach their glory days once again, the Maranello based outfit will be hoping to work on these before the goof-ups pull them down even further.
