Leclerc: It’s not the first time we’ve made the wrong decisions

Charles Leclerc failed to reach the final of Canadian Grand Prix qualifying because, unlike his rivals, he did not switch from intermediate tires to slicks at the right time. After the session, the Ferrari driver criticized the team for yet another strategic mistake.

His teammate Carlos Sainz qualified eighth, but blocked Pierre Gasly during the first session, for which he was fined with the loss of three places at the start.

Carlo Sainz (8th): “My mechanics did a great job and managed to fix the car before qualifying after the accident during practice. They are the real heroes of our sport, thanks to whom I had confidence in the car during qualifying. I had a good first and second session, but in the final I was hampered by red flags and then the rain intensified.

This qualifying turned out to be one of the hardest in my career. In the first session I went to the track after a crash with the car. The track was wet, I saw raindrops on the helmet visor, but at the same time I had slicks on my car. It was very difficult, but I did my best and I’m glad I succeeded.

To block? At that time, there was very little time left before the end of the session, but unlike others, I did not shout on the radio, although I was blocked very often. Let’s wait and see what decision the stewards will make, but I hope it won’t depend on who shouted and complained the loudest on the radio.

I did my best to clear the track, but the session was coming to an end and I didn’t want to miss my attempt. In addition, I was also blocked at that time.”

Charles Leclerc (11th): “It’s very simple – if the track is dry and we stay on intermediate tyres, we’re not making our lives any easier. We will discuss with the team what happened – we need to move forward as this is not the first time this has happened. The team often makes the wrong strategic decisions in difficult situations.

I have a clear understanding that we make decisions that are the opposite of what we should be making, putting ourselves in a very difficult position. That being said, this is not just the reason, as some riders have made it to the finals by doing exactly what I did, but again, we are making life difficult for ourselves.

I don’t want to go into details about what exactly we’re going to do, but the team and I will analyze everything and hopefully learn from what happened and get stronger. But this has already happened several times.

On Friday I had good pace so I hope the race will be dry and I can bounce back, but after a difficult Saturday and starting from 11th, it won’t be easy. I am extremely disappointed.”