Charles Leclerc’s Canadian weekend began with a very clear objective: the comeback operation. Ferrari did everything to keep the decisions made regarding the power unit of the Monegasque confidential, and the definitive confirmation regarding the fact that Charles Leclerc could serve a penalty on the starting grid of the Canadian Grand Prix came only at the end of the second free practice session, when the FIA announced (late) that the number 3 ECU had been installed on the Ferrari number 16.
At the start of FP1, the use of a new thermal unit combined with new MGU-H, MGU-K and control unit was formalized, all combined with a previous turbo, probably the one from the first power unit used in the current season. With this configuration Charles Leclerc would not have had to serve any penalties, then the use of the third ECU in the second free practice session made the Scuderia’s plans clearer.
At the moment Charles Leclerc is serving a ten-place grid penalty for the Montreal grid, but it is likely that today, at the start of the third free practice session, the FIA will confirm other new elements mounted on Charles’ PU, which could thus start on Sunday from the last position of the grid. Whether it is the eleventh (in the case of pole position) or the twentieth (in the case of a complete change of the power unit), the situation does not change much, but it seems that for Ferrari it is a very significant figure, judging by the confidentiality that surrounds everything.
What is already certain is that Charles Leclerc will have to race the Canadian Grand Prix starting from the rear, a necessary choice after the problems that have affected his power unit in Azerbaijan. Ferrari tried to manage an unfavorable situation by trying attempting to “put some hay in the farmhouse”, or more elements that will come in handy over the course of the 2022 F1 season, entrusting Charles Leclerc and the top speed of his F1-75 (with good results, but still behind Red Bull) the task of limiting the damage in the 70 laps of the race scheduled for Sunday.
Charles Leclerc’s Canadian weekend was planned differently from the start, as confirmed by the work schedule seen from the FP1 session, in which he completed many laps in a long-run configuration.
Even the choice of tires communicated by Pirelli yesterday evening confirmed a Charles Leclerc focused only on race pace, as he was the only driver to keep two sets of mediums and two new hards, giving up a set of softs. This was further confirmation that qualifying this weekend is not one of Charles’ priorities.
In terms of performance, the F1-75 was proved to be close to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull (81 thousandths the gap in favor of Max on Charles) but the world champion set his time using only one set of soft against the Monegasque driver’s two. Overall the Dutchman appeared more consistent (he was the leader in FP1, FP2 and also in the race simulations) but the margin is not yet so reassuring as to put Red Bull on the safe side.
Max knows he has a great opportunity to increase his advantage in the championship standings, but Montreal’s history is full of crazy races in which the predictions have been drastically disproved, and while one Ferrari will have to fight its way back to the top, there is still another one ready to challenge for the race win.
The performance analysis is a well-known verdict: Ferrari confirmed itself as the best single-seater in the corners, Red Bull is flying on the straights with DRS open. But for the first time this season, Friday saw Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc working on different schedules. While Max tried the race simulations with medium tires (the most popular in sight on Sunday) Charles completed his long-run with the softs, confirming that he wanted to start the race in ‘attack’ mode with the aim of recovering positions.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection from Puma! Enter the online Puma Store and shop securely! And get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
For the first time since he has been with Ferrari, Carlos Sainz finds himself in the role of ‘first striker’: “I enjoyed this first day of testing because we were able to progress well over the two sessions – he commented – driving was a bit complicated due to the gusts of wind, but we managed to complete our program without any issue. Understanding the behavior of the tires in the best possible way will be fundamental in view of the race, and in this sense we were able to collect a good amount of data”.
Carlos Sainz’s long-run on medium tires was the fastest, but the Spaniard switched to the yellow set in the final laps of FP2, so with a fresh set paired with a low fuel load. If the weather forecasts are confirmed, Carlos will be in the running for pole on a wet track, and judging by the intensity of rainfall seen this week, a full-wet track is likely to be confirmed.
It will be a very demanding challenge for everyone, but in Carlos Sainz’s case with a little more pressure. He knows he has an opportunity, but he has to fight that scary Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Yet if he has a direct confrontation with Max, Carlos will be the one who has nothing to lose, an advantage that should not be underestimated.
Leave a Reply