What Went Wrong for Ferrari? Shock Double Q2 Exit Explained
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were left baffled by Ferrari’s disappointing performance in qualifying for the F1 Canadian Grand Prix.After victory in Monaco, Ferrari arrived in Montreal confident of its chances of competing for another win at a circuit that should, in theory, suit the 2024 car, however, the team was unable to place either cars in the top-10, with Leclerc and Sainz crashing out in Q2, finishing 11th and 12th respectively.
“We will look into everything,” Leclerc told Sky F1. “Obviously, I’m not happy to be leaving in Q2 and we’ll look into that. I think the biggest problem was that we were too slow. Whenever the conditions were dry, we did not perform well and we need to understand why.
Since FP3, we were far from ideal.”Asked if the car felt different, Leclerc replied: “It looks bad. Just bad. No grip at all and the tires were never ready. That’s the biggest problem.”Both Ferrari drivers used their only set of new soft tires at the start of Q2, anticipating the rain that never came.
When the rain didn’t show up, Leclerc and Sainz had to run on used tires in the best track conditions.Carlos Sainz echoed his teammate’s comments and thought Ferrari would have been better off saving the new tires for the end of Q2.
“I think if we had done everything perfectly, using the new tires at the end of Q2 and not at the beginning, and with a cleaner last corner, maybe Q3 would have been possible today,” said the Spaniard.”But the reality is that it was very tight at every moment today and that means that as soon as you don’t get everything perfect, you are eliminated in Q2, which is not where Ferrari want to be. When you don’t do these things perfectly and you don’t have a fast car, you end up being caught off guard.”
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said: “The pace was good yesterday in both wet and dry conditions. But we have had more difficulties since the morning to warm up the tires in Turn 1, where we are losing more than 50% of the time. It’s narrow. At the end of the day, Perez is 16th and by a tenth or two you could be out. Carlos was three tenths faster than Charles in the last corner [before] he made a mistake. It is, but we have to be content with the fact that the race is so close. Of course, when you’re 11 and 12, you’re not happy.”
Ferrari now faces the difficult task of analyzing and resolving the issues that led to this disappointing performance as it prepares for the upcoming races and looks to return to the front of the field in the 2024 season.
