Ferrari to hold discussions at Maranello Headquarters following strategy controversy during Canadian Grand Prix qualifying at the 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal
Italian racing team Ferrari has scheduled talks at its Maranello Formula 1 factory on Tuesday to address the aftermath of the strategy decisions that cast a shadow over qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix.
During the qualifying session, Charles Leclerc raised concerns after his request to switch to slick tires early in Q2 was overridden by the Maranello team’s decision to have him complete a fast lap on intermediate tires. However, by the time Charles Leclerc finished his initial run and transitioned to slicks, rain returned on the track, causing him to miss the optimal opportunity to set a faster time and consequently be eliminated from Q3. While the Monegasque initially expressed frustration in media interviews immediately after the Montreal qualifying, the Italian side clarified the situation to him through discussions with strategists, leading to a change in his perspective.
Nevertheless, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur emphasized the importance of conducting a comprehensive analysis of the incident and convening discussions to identify measures to prevent similar issues from occurring again in such circumstances: “We have to think about what happened,” the Frenchman pointed out – “We will have a meeting to discuss about it on Tuesday to fix it.”
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Despite the attention-grabbing nature of Charles Leclerc’s critical remarks following qualifying, the Ferrari team principal revealed that the atmosphere during the Saturday night debrief between the driver and the Maranello team was considerably more tranquil.
“You can always do a better job,” said Frederic Vasseur when asked about Charles Leclerc’s statements. “But it is true also that the [impression] that you have 10 seconds after qualifying is not always the best one. We had a good discussion with Charles. We gave him the global picture of the situation; what happened during the session, and it was much more calm.” – he added.
According to Frederic Vasseur, Charles Leclerc’s lack of comprehension regarding the potential risks associated with a delayed switch to dry tires was a key factor in terms of outcome in Q2: “At this stage the rain was coming, and we wanted to put a time on the board as soon as possible,” he said. “If you pit at the end of lap one to put a set of softs on, then you have two laps to warm up the tyres and you postpone your first flying lap for five minutes. It was not the right strategy at this stage.”
The French manager pointed out that Ferrari’s main area for improvement lay in enhancing Charles Leclerc’s comprehension of the rationale behind the Maranello team’s decision-making process: “I think the confusion came from the fact that he probably didn’t get the global picture of the quali and so on. We have probably to improve some areas so that he has to put himself in our shoes sometimes. We can’t say that we did a good job [in qualifying]. I think the pace was mega, but we finished 10/11. So, it means something went wrong.” – the Ferrari boss concluded following the Canadian Grand Prix.
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