After the Disaster in Qualifying, Charles Leclerc & Frederic Vasseur Reveal the Strategic Genius That Led Ferrari to a Miraculous Recovery

Ferrari & Strategy are not two words that often come in the same sentence for a positive reason. Although, this rare occurrence happened as a miracle at the Canadian GP, much to the Tifosi’s delight. Given the Scuderia’s track record of messing up tire strategies for its drivers, many were shocked to see this. Regardless, how did Ferrari implement this flawless race strategy just hours after the horrible mistakes in qualifying?

Charles Leclerc has been the prime victim of Ferrari’s strategy errors & so he was in the Canadian GP qualifying. The Monegasque kept requesting to switch to slick tires on a drying track. But the Italian team denied him to stay out & delay the soft tire change that robbed Leclerc of a chance to progress to Q3. This was definitely a disaster for Ferrari. Although, the men in Red did not give up & their boss, Frederic Vasseur reveals how they managed their genius recovery.

According to Motorsport-Total, Vasseur stated how it was crucial to get some free space for both Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz to progress in the race. He said, “[The drivers] said, ‘Just give us some free rein.’ And the best way to do that was not to stop [behind the safety car]. But of course it’s a risk. Because if you have another safety car 15 laps later, it becomes a little more difficult.” [translated via Google]

Both Leclerc & Sainz stayed out to get up to P4 & P5 while others pitted during the early safety car. Leclerc stated on his pre-safety car situation after the race, backing Ferrari’s strategic risk, “You can’t do anything in a situation like that. I was faster than the guys in front of me, but I couldn’t overtake because Lando [Norris] had DRS in front of me”

Read More: “Will Have a Real Smile When…”: Charles Leclerc Pulls the Plug on Tifosi’s Happy Parade Despite a Laudable Recovery

Usually, when a safety car happens, teams often pit for a cheaper tire change. These are exactly the kind of situations Ferrari has messed up in the past. But not in Montreal. It feels great to see the Italian outfit improving on one mistake after the other to slowly progress. While Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz may be a bit frustrated but they know Ferrari seems to be developing positively.

Can Ferrari Eliminate its Age-Old Problems to Give Charles Leclerc a Winning Package?

This has been the million-dollar question on the Maranello outfit for the past few years now. Charles Leclerc is often a frustrated & sad man after any general race weekend for Ferrari. Still, the Monegasque driver has faith in the Reds to deliver him a championship-winning car. Although, is it possible for the Scuderia to eliminate all of its age-old issues?

The first of them certainly has been the tires strategy. While Ferrari managed to pull off a solid recovery based on its flawless strategy in Canada, can they do it consistently? Leclerc certainly praised the team’s good job to put him 4th at the finish line. He said, “Obviously, let’s not speak about yesterday (Saturday qualifying) anymore. But considering where we started from, I think it’s the best we could have done. We did a good job.”

So, even Charles knows that this may be a one-off & Ferrari needs to deliver such strategic brilliance consistently. Their counterparts, Red Bull have always been spotless on tire strategy calls. Though being fair to the Italian team, one aspect that they have improved upon to get closer to the Bulls is their pit stops. While their stops may not be as quick as Red Bull’s sub-2-second ones, they are decent & consistent in 2023.

Perhaps Ferrari is taking small steps toward eliminating all its flaws to return to glory. It would be damn interesting if they can manage to do it & give Charles Leclerc a championship-winning package in 2024. What do you think of the Scuderia’s improved pit stops & strategy? Will they deliver consistently?

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