Charles Leclerc has confessed that driver error and not Ferrari’s strategy was the crux of his disappointing result in Formula 1‘s Canadian Grand Prix.
The Monegasque finished fifth at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after starting eighth, ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who had qualified in front.
But that was just part of the story for Leclerc, who conveyed frustration during the race regarding his difference of opinion with a Ferrari strategic call that saw him switched from a one to a two-stop.
Whilst disappointed with the strategy and doubling down on his affirmation that he was right, Leclerc ultimately blamed himself not scoring a better result, citing his crash in FP1 as well as getting stuck in traffic in qualifying as factors
“There was obviously a discussion around to understand what was the right call,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “We were aligned at one point, and then the team decided to converge on a two-stop, which I did not agree [with] at that moment, but eventually I think the team has more information than I do on the pit wall.
“But the whole review, because I was pretty sure of what I felt, what I had seen around me, that the one-stop switch was the right call. But again, I think the poor result of today is more down to my mistake in FP1 and the traffic yesterday.
“I don’t think the strategy would have made a big difference. I think the starting position is eventually what holds us back.
“I rate my first pass this season very high. I’ll probably say that this weekend I probably didn’t extract the maximum out of our car, because I think the potential was good.”
Being up with McLaren exacerbates Leclerc frustration
An additional frustration for Leclerc was how Ferrari perhaps missed an open goal when it came to taking points out of McLaren, given that he felt the two teams’ pace was evenly matched.
When reminded of how close the SF-25 was to competing with McLaren and Verstappen, Leclerc reiterated his sense of frustration at his own performance.
“I don’t really want to speak with this at the end of the day,” he said. “I didn’t put everything together. I think Mercedes probably had the upper hand this weekend. Red Bull is consistently there. McLaren was a little bit more on the back foot. I think we were there with them.
“Then where we would have ended up, I don’t know. At the end of the day, I didn’t do the job.”
READ MORE – How groundhog cost Lewis Hamilton fourth place in F1 Canadian GP
