A total blackout, this is how one could describe the weekend in Canada for Ferrari which in the space of two weeks went from victory and double podium to a double DNF, the first of the Vasseur era. At the end of the race at the Montreal Circuit the Red Team Principal, Frederic Vasseur wanted to reconstruct what happened over the weekend, trying to identify the problems that led to the double retirement in the Canadian GP.
Vasseur and the explanation of the problems in Canada
The defeat in Canada is a particularly heavy defeat, especially given McLaren's closeness in the constructors' standings. The English team paid for the comparison with the Reds in the first races but from Miami onwards it seems to have taken away the role of second force from Ferrari. In past events as well as in Canada, Ferrari has paid off especially in qualifying. But this weekend the biggest problems came during the race and not just due to the adverse weather and the cold.
After the first laps, the team immediately saw that something was wrong with Leclerc's SF-24. The Monegasque lost over a second per lap and the problem was to be found in the engine. Leclerc's race thus turned into an unnerving wait. Even trying to change the controls during a longer than usual stop was useless.
“We had a Leclerc's engine control problem and we lost 8 tenths per lap for 10-15 laps – says Vasseur after the GP in Canada. At a certain point we expected a red flag to make a change and be able to restart. The red flag didn't come and we lost a lap, and the race ended for Charles there.”
So many problems, what happened to the Red?
If Leclerc's disappointing times were to be attributed to a car with obvious problems, Sainz's left some more doubts. At the end of the race, the Spanish rider did not in fact speak of a specific problem but remained rather vague, complaining about a bad pace, something he had already encountered at the beginning of the weekend. However, regarding this, Vasseur gave further information, namely that Sainz's car had the bottom damaged due to a contact at the start. Finally, in wanting to push too much the Spaniard made a mistake, putting a definitive end to his race.
“Carlos, on the other hand, didn't start very well. At the beginning he found himself in the middle of the group and at a certain point he had contact with Bottas or Ricciardo and damaged the front wing and bottom. It was a difficult weekend".
Ferrari, does the specter of reliability return?
The answers to the possible causes of the problems appear to be multiple. Leclerc blamed the engine, Sainz the pace, Vasseur also spoke of a damaged floor for the Spaniard. Obviously, Ferrari will have to carefully analyze what happened to rule out reliability problems. However, perhaps there is only one substance. That is in wanting to understand too much, Ferrari seems to have gone too far, ending up not understanding anything anymore. This seems to be exactly the picture painted by Frederic Vasseur who declared that he did not suffer from the weather or track conditions, but rather from certain choices and actions.
"The conditions did not harm our race, we damaged ourselves - Vasseur admitted. We had a technical problem with the engine that we need to understand exactly, and we will see it tomorrow. I'm not sure if Leclerc's problem is related to the power unit, it's more a question of controls. Carlos was stuck in the group at the start of the race when there was only one dry line, but the damage to the floor was too significant, it lost something like 20 points of aerodynamics, which is 6-8 tenths per lap. When you are in the group you can't overcome when you have such a big damage".
“Today it wasn't a question of pace, if Charles hadn't had those problems I think the pace would have been decent".
Source statements: SkySportF1
