MONTREAL, Canada — Charles Leclerc was at a loss to elucidate Ferrari’s lack of tempo throughout qualifying on the Canadian Grand Prix, saying his automotive merely didn’t have sufficient grip to compete for a spot within the high ten.
Two weeks in the past, Leclerc received the Monaco Grand Prix from pole place however will begin eleventh on Sunday’s grid in Canada forward of teammate Carlos Sainz in twelfth place.
He missed out on a spot within the high ten after Ferrari despatched him out on a used set of soppy tyres for his last run in Q2 fairly than a brand new set, however stated the automotive already felt off the tempo since last follow earlier on Saturday afternoon.
“We’re simply not quick sufficient and sadly that is it,” Leclerc stated. “I imply, in FP3 [final practice] we have been nowhere on the dry, in qualifying we have been nowhere on the dry as properly.
“I haven’t got any explanations for now. In FP3 already we felt that one thing was unsuitable, we could not see what was unsuitable. It was precisely the identical in qualifying, the place it positively felt like one thing was unsuitable however nothing we might see was unsuitable.
“So the grip was simply extraordinarily poor within the first sector particularly after which when you slide within the first sector it is a snowball impact and also you by no means actually get the efficiency out of the automotive. So sure, troublesome weekend.”
Sainz stated the dearth of efficiency relative to Ferrari’s rivals had come as a shock to the crew, which was tipped to have one of the aggressive vehicles across the Montreal circuit this weekend.
“We’re a bit shocked too, everybody is aware of, as a result of since FP3, actually, we noticed we have been gradual and this weekend was going to be a troublesome one and also you by no means anticipate to go from combating for a win and pole place to being out in Q2, however that is Method One.
“I’ve seen worse issues occur and we are going to return and analyse why we’re struggling round right here.
“I feel proper now, I can simply let you know we’re missing grip and our trip would not look nearly as good because it did in Monaco. For these two causes, lack of grip, warm-up, trip, all the pieces round Canada appears trickier than Monaco.”