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Charles Leclerc has blasted Ferrari's strategic call during qualifying ahead of the Canada Grand Prix which ruined his session.
In Q2, the track was starting to dry and there was speculation that the slick tire was going to be the preferred choice. Ferrari had sent Leclerc out on track on intermediate tire just like any other team had done with their cars.
Williams with Alex Albon was different as the team went ahead with a slick tire straightaway. On his very first lap out of the track, Charles Leclerc had radioed that the track was too dry and he want to make the move to slick tires. The driver's request was denied as he was told to first a representative time and then come into the pits.
This was exactly what Charles Leclerc did but unfortunately ended up getting eliminated from the session as the switch to slicks was too late. Alex Albon was certainly able to benefit from an early move to slicks and ended up reaching Q3. As quoted by Planet F1, Leclerc was furious at what happened and questioned the call. He said:
“I’m very frustrated with the qualifying. Not everything is [about the tyres] obviously because some others did exactly the same thing and still went through into Q3 [on intermediate tyres]. But we are just making our lives so much more difficult. I’m very frustrated now and honestly, we need to improve and do a step forward otherwise we’re always going to be disappointed so yeah – we need to improve now."
He added:
"We didn’t follow my intuition at that moment and I think that puts us in a very difficult situation after that and we paid the price big time,” he added. “So I’m very frustrated and very disappointed with today, and tomorrow I’ll try to make the best race possible in order to come back.”
Ferrari should have followed Charles Leclerc's suggestion
In conditions like the one in Montreal, the driver is the best judge because he is the one who is on track. Ferrari needed to trust Charles Leclerc at that very moment because that is exactly what a team should ideally do.
It does make sense to listen to what Max Verstappen is telling his team in the Red Bull garage and use that to make decisions. But, the team need to back their driver.
McLaren did the same with Lando Norris when the young driver requested a change to slick tires and benefited from it. This should be a key learning for Ferrari because these debacles have now started to occur every week.
Leclerc will now start the race on Sunday from 10th place.
