Ferrari and the strategy in the Canada GP: quarrel on tires and pit stops, nervous Leclerc. Why?

Another difficult weekend for Ferrari. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton closed the Canada Grand Prix respectively in fifth and sixth position. Results in line with the seasonal trend, but that this weekend leave the bitterness in the mouth even more because among the curves of the Gilles Villeneuve the SF-25 seemed to be better than other slopes. After the Canadian Sunday, the strategies of the stable are returned to the defendants’ counter. Leclerc, who would have liked to make a single pit stop during the race, discussed with the box, which instead opted for the double stop, for most of the race. And, in hindsight, the nervousness of Monegasco is understandable. So let’s go to reconstruct the race and the horse strategy.

A stop, or rather two

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Leclerc was the only one of the pilots of the first rows, together with Norris, starting with the hard tire. An almost obligatory choice, given the disappointing qualification of the Saturday that forced him to start from the eighth place. The Monegasque, after managing the tires in the first laps, began to show a good pace. The wall decided to recall it in the box on the 26th lap, unleashing the frustration of the number 16, which he would have liked to continue to try a different strategy, namely the one on the single stop. Option mortified not only by the anticipated pit stop, but above all by the choice of mounting another hard tire: by regulation, in fact, all drivers must use at least two different component mixes during the race.

The rhythm was there

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Also in the second Stint with Tire Dura Leclerc, he continued to score good times. The second stop was long in coming, which made the Monegasque further nervous. Bryan Bozzi, his track engineer, explained to him that the reason was the scarce trust of the team in the performance of the average compound. Another opinion not shared by Charles, who instead said he considers the average good rubber. The second stop finally arrived at Giro 54, with Leclerc who returned to over 10 seconds from Norris. The English accident in the race final allowed Monegasco to earn a position and to close in fifth place. A result not to be thrown away, given the starting position, but which has not satisfied Leclerc’s ambitions. The strategy to a stop, however complicated to complete, could perhaps have been able to try. In fact, the Mercedes, the McLaren, Verstappen and the Ferraris, in particular that of Leclerc himself (Hamilton’s car was damaged), had another step compared to the rest of the lot. Even if the rubber had collapsed at the end of the race, the Monegasco would therefore probably have concluded in a position similar to the one in which he actually finished the GP.