The Canadian Grand Prix provided another exciting race for Formula 1 fans with the weather playing its part in Montreal.
Max Verstappen ended up taking the chequered flag although Lando Norris may wonder what could have been after narrowly missing out on stopping immediately after the safety car came out following Logan Sargeant’s crash.
Commentating on the race for Sky Sports F1, Martin Brundle was left unimpressed with one team’s strategy gamble during the changeable conditions.
Haas were the first team to roll the dice and both of their driver made huge strides forward by starting on the wet tyres.
Unfortunately, they weren’t prepared for Kevin Magnussen’s pit stop and left Nico Hulkenberg out for too long to benefit from their early overtaking escapades.
The other team that tried something different was Ferrari who had a weekend to forget after a double-podium finish at the last race in Monaco.
Brundle questioned Ferrari’s decision to move Charles Leclerc onto the hard tyres with the rain still coming down.
It was one of the last actions for the six-time race winner who was suffering from issues from the beginning of the Grand Prix.
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Martin Brundle questions ‘hopeless’ Charles Leclerc strategy in Canada
The weekend didn’t get off to a good start for Ferrari with both drivers eliminated from qualifying before the top ten shootout.
Leclerc and Carlos Sainz lined up on the sixth row and during a treacherous race start they were both overtaken by the Haas pair.
Sainz got trapped in the midfield and eventually crashed out, ending his race and his potential future teammate Alex Albon’s in the process.
Leclerc was struggling with an engine issue from the start of the race that was losing him 0.5 seconds of time every lap.
He was running in 10 at one point, but a long pit stop at the end of the first safety car was needed to try and fix his engine problems.
Ferrari also put Leclerc on the hard tyres in Canada which Brundle questioned given the weather forecast.
He was running on his own at the back of the pack and was quickly lapped by the front runners.
Leclerc didn’t see the chequered flag with Ferrari retiring the car and bringing an end to an awful weekend for the team.
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Ferrari come away from the Canadian Grand Prix pointless
Commenting on the Monegasque driver’s tyre change, David Croft said: “We ride onboard with Charles Leclerc, it is teaming with rain and he is trying to tiptoe around the first few corners.”
Brundle added: “Yeah, but it’s hopeless, the slower you go, the less grip you’ve got.
“The less grip you’ve got, the slower you go and then you’re into a horrible snowball effect like that.”
Croft replied: “This is not a good afternoon as it stands for Charles Leclerc,” while Brundle concluded: “Or Ferrari indeed.”
Ferrari will hope that Leclerc and Sainz’s issues in Canada are a one-off rather than a trend ahead of a triple-header of races.
Leclerc is still Verstappen’s nearest challenger in the championship although the Dutchman has added 25 points to his tally with the Ferrari driver failing to score.
Sainz will be concentrating on the championship as well but knows that he needs to secure his future on the grid for 2025 too.
F1Oversteer understands that Sainz looks set to be in line to join Alex Albon at Williams next year.
He may have to send his potential future teammate an apology after ending his race.
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