The Canadian Grand Prix could become the most important turning point for Scuderia Ferrari in the 2023 Formula 1 championship, the race that changed the scenario. The conditional tense is necessary for two reasons, linked to the need for confirmation on a different type of circuit compared to the Montreal track, and the caution required when discussing the SF-23 single-seater, which has been unpredictable so far.
However, what was seen on the Gilles Villeneuve track was a clear message, and paradoxically, Ferrari managed to convert their tenth and eleventh positions on the starting grid into fourth and fifth under the checkered flag by making a difference in two areas that had been criticized in the previous race: tire management and strategies.
The smiles seen on the faces of Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Fred Vasseur, and throughout the Maranello team at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix are obviously not just about the points earned, but about finding the direction they had lost in the first third of the 2023 F1 season.
The twenty-two points from Montreal are not to be discarded, but it is mainly the perspective with which they can approach the upcoming races that has injected confidence. So far, the two SF-23s were the “Saturday beauties” only to falter twenty-four hours later, but in Montreal, it was the opposite. We still await a weekend where the combination of these two positive aspects can be evaluated, a weekend that Ferrari hopes to assemble very soon.
One of the aspects that stood out in the Canadian Grand Prix was the confidence with which the Scuderia’s pit wall acted during the twelfth lap of the race, when George Russell’s impact into a barrier caused the deployment of the safety car.
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All the drivers who started on the medium tires returned to the pits for a pit stop, except Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. “We wanted to leave Carlos and Charles on track to allow them to run in clear air,” explained Frederic Vasseur after the race, and indeed, when the race resumed, the lap times of the two Ferrari cars remained fast despite covering a remarkable 40 laps with the same set of tires they started with.
It was a bold strategy but it proved to be perfect because it allowed both Ferrari drivers to climb back up to just below the podium. Another positive aspect emerged with the feared hard tires. The hardest compound (of the weekend) had caused significant problems in the Spanish Grand Prix, especially for the Monegasque driver, but yesterday in Montreal, it worked very well.
“It was important to see that in the second part of the race, our drivers were setting lap times similar to the top three in the standings,” commented Fred Vasseur. “We are progressing race after race: we will continue to focus on ourselves, work hard in the direction we have identified, and pay even more attention to every detail to have a perfect weekend from Friday to Sunday.” – the French manager pointed out.
At the end of the race, Charles Leclerc, almost hesitant to smile, described his race as the best of this early part of the 2023 Formula One season, referring to the performance of the car. Frederic Vasseur also announced technical developments for the upcoming races, adding fuel to a suddenly rekindled fire.
However, all of this is communicated in a hushed tone, as the fear of raising expectations too high still prevails among the men of the Scuderia, and perhaps rightly so. The feeling of a breath of fresh air taken in deeply is undeniable, as well as the impression that the season of Ferrari will be divided between a ‘pre’ and a ‘post’ Canada when it comes to assessing its performance at the end of the championship.
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