Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton revealed a fascinating behind-the-scenes detail in the post-race cooldown room after the Canadian Grand Prix, raising the possibility that Ferrari came dangerously close to making the same strategic mistake as McLaren.
The Maranello team had significant concerns about the weather heading into the race, especially given the unusual conditions that teams had not previously faced this season. McLaren ultimately became the only frontrunning team to start the Canadian Grand Prix on intermediate tyres, a gamble that failed spectacularly when the expected rain never arrived, effectively destroying their chances of scoring the result their pace may have justified.
Ferrari, by contrast, secured an excellent podium finish with Lewis Hamilton, who showed impressive confidence in the SF-26 around the Montreal circuit. Charles Leclerc, however, endured what many described as one of the most difficult weekends of his Formula 1 career.
But during the cooldown room footage, Max Verstappen appeared to reveal that Ferrari had been on the verge of making the same tyre choice as McLaren.
Verstappen: “I saw you change them at the last second”
As the drivers watched the race start replay, Max Verstappen casually dropped the revelation on the world feed, suggesting Ferrari had almost made the same costly call.
“I saw you change them at the last second.”
Lewis Hamilton immediately confirmed the comment with a simple “Yeah,” seemingly acknowledging just how close Ferrari came to a major strategic blunder. Had Ferrari committed to that decision, the backlash would likely have been severe, especially given the scrutiny the Scuderia often faces. Instead, Ferrari avoided the trap and turned the weekend into a major success, with Lewis Hamilton fighting his way to second place after a hard-fought battle with Max Verstappen.
The seven-time world champion admitted that securing P2 was far from straightforward, particularly given Ferrari’s continuing power deficit on circuits where engine performance plays a decisive role: “It was nice to be back fighting with Max. It doesn’t happen often that we find ourselves evenly matched in terms of power and pace. I could see that he had more power, but maybe we had more grip. But we managed to have a real battle.
“I’m working with everything I’ve got, together with Fred, who is doing a fantastic job as team leader, our engineers, and everyone working back at the factory. It’s a long process to make progress, but if we can achieve this kind of result on a track where power is so important, then I think on circuits where power matters less, we might be able to do even better.”
Attention now shifts to Monaco, where Ferrari could have a genuine opportunity to spring a surprise.
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