Scuderia Ferrari’s qualifying performance did not match the potential shown so far since Friday both in qualfying and race trim. It was a very tricky session on a slippery track with rain falling intermittently at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit. It made it something of a lottery and Charles was unable to progress past Q2. In the final phase, Carlos set the eighth fastest time, but he will line up in eleventh spot on the grid tomorrow as he was given a three place grid penalty for having obstructed Pierre Gasly towards the end of Q1.
Rain and timing. Carlos and Charles made it through Q1 on Intermediate tyres without much difficulty, as the rain began to fall. In the second part, all the drivers with the exception of Alex Albon decided to go out on new Intermediates as rain was falling again, to bank a time and then switch to Softs. Sainz made the cut to Q3 but Charles had to cut the final chicane and therefore did not improve his time with the Intermediates before the track was wet again. Q3 effectively lasted just a few minutes and Carlos only managed one run as the rain intensified, setting a time of 1’29”294 before Oscar Piastri’s crash brought out the red flags. After the restart, the track was too wet for anyone to improve.
The bit between the teeth. Carlos and Charles will be looking to fight their way up the order in the race, relying on the pace demonstrated in Friday’s free practice in the dry, battling with what is a very closely matched group behind Max Verstappen. The Grand Prix starts at 14 local (20 CEST).
Carlos Sainz #55
It was a very tough qualifying. After the incident in FP3 the guys did an amazing job to rebuild the car and I managed to get my confidence back bit by bit in Q1 and Q2, putting some decent laps together.
I was looking forward to pushing hard in Q3, but unfortunately the red flag and later the heavy rain meant we couldn’t improve our time and missed out on a better result. My starting position is not ideal but tomorrow we’ll try our best to make up some places.
Charles Leclerc #16
I was frustrated after qualifying because I love my team and felt we could all have done a better job today. We have been working so hard and made a good step with the car for this weekend, so it was disappointing not to go through to Q3. We will pull together and work as a team to improve.
I will give everything in the race to make up as many positions as possible and bring home a solid result for us.
Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal
Even if the conditions were the same for everyone, for various reasons, qualifying really didn’t go our way today. In Q2, there wasn’t much time to decide on tyre choice and we opted to establish a time on Intermediates before switching to Softs. On the slicks, there was time for just one run before the rain returned and only Carlos managed to improve. In Q3, once again, Carlos could only do one flying lap before the red flag and after that the heavy rain meant it was impossible to improve. From what we saw Friday in free practice and given how evenly matched everyone is, I am confident that, in the race, we can move up the order and bring home a good result.