The Canadian Grand Prix accounted for for Charles Leclerc a long exercise in patience and strategic management, as explained by the Monegasque driver himself after the race. Accustomed to starting from the front row, with six pole positions and two second places in qualifying this year, the Monegasque started yesterday from 19th position to allow the team to clear the penalty for changing the power unit, effectively homologating two new engines . A necessary choice, but one that forced Leclerc to constantly drive in traffic without ever being able to fully express the pace of his F1-75. Throughout the race the Monegasque was always very active via radio, constantly communicating with the Ferrari pit wall to try to find the best possible solution to get back into the group.
There was no lack of strategy variations and also a certain impatience on the part of Leclerc for the performance of the car, which did not always facilitate him in duels. Especially in the final part of the race, when the Safety Car entered, the red # 16 did not lose sight of the battle for the top either, hoping for good news – which did not arrive – from Verstappen-Sainz duel. Below we have collected some of the most relevant moments of the radio dialogue between Leclerc and his track engineer.
After a good recovery up to seventh position, Leclerc’s race begins to get complicated after Ocon’s pit stop under VSC. The Ferrari driver finds himself behind the Frenchman from lap 21 and soon realizes that, given the Alpine’s excellent traction, overtaking on the track will be very difficult to make.
Lap 21/70
Leclerc: “Will be difficult. He had incredible traction out of turn 10 ”.
Ferrari: “Received”.
Lap 28/70
Ferrari: “Brake lightly on turn 10, concentrate on the exit”.
Leclerc: “I don’t have the grip! I just don’t have the grip on the way out. It is really bad. I have no traction at all ”.
Ferrari: “Received. Understood”.
Tour 30-31 / 70
Leclerc: “How long do we want to go?”.
Ferrari: “We prefer to stay on plane A. Pass Ocon to have free air”.
Leclerc: “Received. That’s what I’m trying to do anyway ”.
Ferrari: “Received”
Lap 35-36 / 70
Ferrari: “We are thinking about plan D, what do you think?”.
Leclerc: “What you want. I can’t get over. I simply can’t ”.
Leclerc: “I would be much faster if I had free air”.
Lap 38/70
Leclerc: “I would go through traffic on new tires”.
Ferrari: “Received. We still need to have some margin on the traffic behind ”.
Leclerc: “Yes, received. I’m just saying that with new tires I would be able to get rid of that traffic ”.
Ferrari: “If we stop now we will be behind a four-car train with DRS. We have to stretch a little now ”.
In the final part of the race, with the entry of the Safety Car, Leclerc first tries to evaluate some alternative strategies, then asks for information on the drivers who precede him and on the duel between Verstappen and Sainz at the vertiche. After the restart, the last part of his comeback will begin, from seventh to fifth place.
Round 49/70
Leclerc: “How many cars would there be in front of us if we stopped now?”.
Ferrari: “It would be three cars. Three cars “.
Leclerc: “And how many would we have in front of us if we stay outside?”.
Ferrari: “Stay out, stay out”.
Leclerc: “Received”.
Lap 51-52 / 70
Leclerc: “What is the tire situation of the front riders, please?”.
Ferrari: “Ocon and Alonso have new averages. They stopped during the SC. In front of them the two Mercedes of Hamilton and Russell with hard used cars of five laps ”.
Leclerc: “And what kind of tires do the first two in front have?”.
Ferrari: “Verstappen was out with hard used by five laps. Sainz made the stop for new hard ”.
End of the race
Leclerc: “I will review the race, but after the (wrong) pit stop it was obviously not ideal. But…”.
Ferrari: “Yes, received. We will check it “.
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