Ferrari onboard analysis: how events unfolded for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in 2024 F1 Canadian GP. Ferrari onboard analysis from the Montreal race in Canada.

This time, the rain did not spare the race. On the contrary, the Canadian Grand Prix started on a wet track, with all drivers “forced” to use Intermediate tires. The formation lap passed without too many problems, although the track conditions at the start were not easy. There was a lot of water on the track surface. Charles Leclerc’s clutch release was good, so much so that he managed to gain two positions in a couple of corners. However, at the end of the lap, he went wide, and Lance Stroll reclaimed the tenth position.

Carlos Sainz’s start was much worse, getting overtaken by several cars and failing to find even a minimal level of grip. It’s worth noting that onboard footage shows little visibility of the cars ahead due to the substantial spray from the diffusers. The Spaniard stayed glued to the two Williams cars, waiting for the right moment to attack. By lap 5, a dry line began to appear on the asphalt. The tires gradually warmed up, allowing the Ferrari drivers to push harder. In theory, after lap 7, conditions improved, and it stopped raining.

The sun even came out in Montreal. Charles Leclerc began to appear threatening in Stroll’s mirrors, who was himself fighting with Daniel Ricciardo. Charles Leclerc drew alongside him at the hairpin, and the two brushed wheels. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz was battling with Alex Albon. The Spaniard was faster but couldn’t overtake him. He reported this over the radio while Charles Leclerc’s video feed disappeared. Considering that the DRS could not be used and traction out of the corners was far from optimal, overtaking for the two Ferrari cars was very difficult in these conditions.

Over the radio, Charles Leclerc the reported an unspecified power unit problem, which seemed resolved. This was confirmed by his pace, as he stayed close to Lance Stroll’s rear, just as Carlos Sainz was close to Alex Albon. Although the track seemed much drier in the second and third sectors, the first sector remained very wet, with several puddles causing difficulties for the drivers. This factor still prevented the drivers from switching to slick tires. The crossover point was approaching, as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were asked to cool their tires on the straights.

Contrary to previous reports, it seemed that rain might fall again on the 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal. Another interesting piece of information involved the adjustments Charles Leclerc had to make to the power unit. These “driver defaults” are used to correct erroneous settings in the power unit. The settings were continually changing, seemingly eliminating issues. It remains to be seen if maximum power is present, as Charles Leclerc lost contact with Lance Stroll and continued to fiddle with the controls. Additionally, strategy was a constant topic of discussion between the Monegasque driver and his Ferrari race engineer Bryan Bozzi.

The goal was to understand before the competitors when it would be time to switch to dry tires. The Italian team’s pit wall believed in the rain, and on lap 21, the discussion about tires continued. Meanwhile, Alex Albon overtook Charles Leclerc on the straight in the third sector. It became evident that the Ferrari engine’s power was not correct, as Yuki Tsunoda also easily passed the Ferrari driver the following lap. Charles Leclerc seemed to lose about half a second in high-speed sections. The Monegasque driver complained, and Bryan Bozzi tried to keep him calm, informing him they were waiting for the rain to seize an opportunity.

Just as Carlos was about to pass Charles, the Safety Car came out due to Zhou’s retirement. Everyone took the opportunity to change tires. The two Ferrari cars entered the pit lane and switched to a new set of intermediate tires. On car number 16’s radio, there was continued talk about rain that wasn’t coming. Meanwhile, Charles was asked which type of slick tires he preferred. The Monegasque suggested the Hard tires, so he was called back to the pits.

In the pit box, the Monegasque’s car stalled. A series of commands were used to reset the power unit error. Once restarted, Bryan Bozzi announced on the radio that they had “fixed” the problem. Unfortunately, the Hard tires were completely inadequate, and Charles struggled to keep his car on track. He stated that it was too dangerous and wanted to return to the pits to switch back to Intermediates. Bryan Bozzi insisted he stay on track, but the Monegasque kept going straight in the corners and insisted on switching to intermediates.

At this point, Bryan Bozzi left the choice to him, telling him that changing or not changing the tires made little difference strategically because, “they were in trouble anyway.” Charles Leclerc preferred to switch back to the green-banded Pirelli tires and asked if the power unit problem was completely resolved. It seemed so. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz was battling with Bottas, attempting several overtakes until he made contact and damaged his front wing, losing the right endplate. Ferrari’s race was a disaster, if not a complete failure, by mid-race.

Charles Leclerc stayed on track for glory and data collection, as there were no objectives. The Monegasque asked what the target was, and Bryan Bozzi, after a pause, said they would decide once the situation was under control. Meanwhile, commands to correct the power unit continued, even though theoretically they were resolved. Who knows? On the other side, nothing new for Carlos Sainz, who, without the right side of the front wing, still kept pace with Bottas. The Spaniard complained about struggling with the right front of the SF-24 number 55.

Charles Leclerc’s race engineer then informed him about the decision to retire the car. Charles Leclerc initially did not respond. Bryan Bozzi repeated the request, and the Ferrari driver confirmed that it was a good idea. Thus, on lap 43, car number 16 raised the white flag. Two laps later, Carlos Sainz also entered the pit lane. His goal was to switch to slick tires, fitting a new set of Mediums without changing the front wing. The result was rejoining the track in eleventh position behind Alex Albon.

The Spaniard was trying to reach the points zone. It was not impossible, given that a group of five cars was ahead of him. With great difficulty, he overtook the Williams car and chased Esteban Ocon. Unfortunately, two laps later, at chicane 6-7, he lost the car on entry, spun, and was hit from behind by the Thai driver from Williams. The Spaniard restarted, but half a lap later, after checks through sensors, Riccardo Adami informed him that the rear wing was damaged. Thus, he, like his Maranello teammate, he was forced to retire.

The final outcome of the Canadian Grand Prix was pitiful for Ferrari. A race that was supposed to mark a leap in quality for the Italian team turned into a nightmare. After a positive Friday, problems kept arising. From failing to manage tire activation, resulting in a very poor qualifying session, Scuderia Ferrari did even worse in the race. A double zero points finish stemmed from reliability issues and risky strategies with Charles Leclerc, compounded by Carlos Sainz’s inconsistency in pace and driving, making contact twice with opponents before losing the car in the second sector, being hit from behind, and retiring.

Source: FUnoanalisitecnica