Disappointing result
Once again Ferrari comes out of a Grand Prix with a disappointing result: fifth and sixth places collected in Canada by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton certainly cannot satisfy Maranello’s ambitions. The Monegasque said this clearly, describing himself as “frustrated” for not having a winning car. But during the Montreal race, Charles Leclerc was also involved in numerous radio exchanges with the team regarding the management of the race strategy.
Also in this case, after the GP, with a cool head, Charles Leclerc did not complain, saying that the team has “more data than him” to make decisions. However, during the race, his disagreement with the race plan communicated to him step by step by his race engineer Bryan Bozzi appeared quite evident and blatant.
Discussions and strategies
In reality, Sunday for #16 had not started badly: the first long stint on hard tires had satisfied Charles Leclerc and shown an SF-25 apparently recovering. For this reason, the thought Charles Leclerc had in mind was to stay on track as long as possible. The first back and forth was a discussion exactly on this point.
Bozzi: “Plan B.”
Leclerc: “I think Plan C!”
Bozzi: “Plan B.”
Leclerc: “The tires aren’t doing that badly.”
For a few laps Leclerc is allowed to stay out, but then comes the instruction to pit to put on a second set of hard tires. A move the Ferrari driver follows but clearly does not agree with.
Bozzi: “Box for the hards.”
Leclerc: “I don’t understand this choice. I don’t get it. The tires were fine!”
Leclerc: “Why did we stop?”
Bozzi: “We’re on Plan B.”
Leclerc: “Yes, but I was just telling you the tires were fine.”
The lift and coast nightmare
In the following laps the debate shifts to managing the now infamous ‘lift and coast’, which is requested every race with some frequency from the engineers to the drivers of the two reds. Then, as the second pit stop approaches, the topic of discussion returns to strategy. At this point, Charles Leclerc would like to anticipate the stop to switch to medium tires, but the engineers in the box do not share the same opinion.
Bozzi: “We have to keep doing LiCo.”
Leclerc: “Yeah, enough talking now.”
Bozzi: “This is a request, now. Keep doing LiCo.”
Leclerc: “Okay, I got it. You told me many times. I know it’s important.”
Bozzi: “Charles, it’s essential to do LiCo, do it now.”
Leclerc: “Is this better?!”
Bozzi: “Yes, keep it up.”
Leclerc: “What are we waiting for to stop?”
Bozzi: “We don’t want to do too many laps on the mediums.”
Leclerc: “I don’t get it. The mediums are a good tire for me.”
That Charles Leclerc’s mood wasn’t the best was clear later on the in-lap to the pits after the checkered flag. The Monegasque practically did not say a word over the radio. A ‘heavy’ silence adding to a situation that at the moment is certainly not idyllic inside the Ferrari environment.
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