Ferrari F1 News: Charles Leclerc IGNORES team order before blasting Canadian GP performance

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Monaco, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Canadian GP Qualifying

Leclerc IGNORES Ferrari order before blasting Canadian GP performance

Ferrari endured a miserable qualifying after a shock double exit in Q2

Tyler Rowlinson

Sunday 9 June 2024 14:57

Charles Leclerc was left visibly frustrated after he suffered a nightmare qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Monegasque driver was eliminated in Q2 alongside Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, with the pair lining up for Sunday’s race in 11th and 12th respectively.

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It marks the first time since the 2021 Belgian GP that both red cars failed to make it into the final part of qualifying.

The result comes as a huge shock for the Scuderia as they had been tipped to take pole position in Montreal, but it was instead claimed by George Russell, who along with Max Verstappen set an identical lap time, but Russell will start at the front as he set his time first.

Both Ferraris were eliminated in Q2 in Canada

Charles Leclerc will line up 11th with Carlos Sainz 12th

Ferrari suffer Canada qualifying nightmare

As the 26-year-old was getting ready to speak to the media, it appeared that the Ferrari press officer was instructing Leclerc on what to say, to which he seemed to ignore as he said: “It’s ok, I will say what I want,” before going on to answer questions from Italian media.

The Ferrari press officer was showing Charles Leclerc what to say ahead of the interview, but Charles said “I will say what I want”, and takes the mic.

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— Ferrari News ? (@FanaticsFerrari) June 8, 2024

Leclerc also spoke to Sky Sports F1, where his frustrations were visibly clear. Asked whether he was running on used tyres at the end of the session, he responded: “Yes, I was.

“We put the new tyres at the beginning of Q2 I think and the last set was for Q3. We’ll review everything, obviously not happy to be out in Q2 and we’ll look into it.

“I think the biggest issue is that we were so slow. Every time it was dry conditions we were nowhere this weekend and we’ve got to look into it.”

When asked if Ferrari understood what was the possible cause for the team’s underperformance, Leclerc said: “No, we don’t understand it yet. So, we’ve got to look into it because since FP3 we’ve been nowhere.”

The Monegasque driver was also brutal in his analysis of the car when he was asked about whether it felt different from Saturday morning’s practice: “Oh, it feels bad. It just feels bad, like there’s no grip at all. So, the tyres never feels ready and this is the biggest problem.”

Max Verstappen George Russell Charles Leclerc Carlos Sainz Canadian Grand Prix