The Ferrari Q2 exit came as a surprise in Montréal. After the high of a 1-3 in Monaco, clinching Charles Leclerc’s first victory in his home race, Ferrari has had an abysmal start to the Canadian GP. With the first double Q2 exit since Spa in 2021.
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Charles Leclerc, who was visibly upset following the surprise exit, admitted that Ferrari was just too ‘slow’. The two Ferraris went out in Q2 on a fresh set of tyres.
This was because of the rain forecast for later in the session. The prancing horses wanted to get in a clean lap before the rain. However, when the rain never came, they were forced to put on used softs which let to them being knocked out of Q2. Starting the race in 11th and 12th.
Charles Leclerc admitted in his post qualifying interview, “The biggest issue was that we were so slow,” Leclerc lamented, “Every time it was dry we were nowhere.”
Ferrari came into the weekend as the favourites. However, Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull all seemed to be a step ahead.
Concerningly for the Maranello team, Leclerc admitted that they “don’t understand it yet.”
The Car, “just feels bad, like there’s no grip at all.”
Ferrari have struggled in Qualifying this season, as they prioritised race pace. This has led to them struggling to get their tyres up to temperature for qualifying laps. Even though it’s been great for tyre degradation.
The race pace is one positive to take from the surprise Q2 exit is that the Ferrari fares better in the races.
Carlos Sainz, who qualified 11th, echoed Leclerc’s sentiments about grip issues. “Just a lack of grip. I think if obviously we would have done everything perfect with the running of the new tyre at the end of Q2. Not at the beginning.”
Again, Sainz recognised the reasoning behind Ferrari’s decision and admitted, “we saw the shower coming.” While thinking the track would be better in the first half than the second because of the light rain.
Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal, noted the biggest issue Ferrari have around the Gilles Villneuve circuit is in turn one. Vasseur claimed Ferrari were “losing more than 50% of the gap in turn one.”
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