Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has addressed Charles Leclerc’s outburst from the recent Canadian Grand Prix, after the Monegasque took aim at his side’s qualifying blunder.
Ferrari were guilty of miscommunication once again at the Circuit de Gilles-Villeneuve, with the Italians having failed to listen to what Leclerc requested.
Qualifying in Montreal was incredibly challenging, as a rain shower ahead of the session meant the circuit was wet.
Whilst Q1 was completed on the Intermediate tyres, a dry line was visible from the start of Q2.
Want to work in Formula 1? Browse the latest F1 job vacancies
Several drivers completed an out-lap on Intermediates before immediately pitting for Softs, due to the circuit having been ready for the slick compound.
This is exactly what Leclerc wanted to do as well, something he stressed over the team radio.
Ferrari though, instructed the 25-year-old to set a banker lap on the Intermediates, following Leclerc’s request to pit for Softs.
This error by Ferrari ultimately cost Leclerc a place in Q3, as it started to rain again in the closing stages of the session when the driver was eventually fitted with the Soft compound.
Unsurprisingly, Leclerc failed to improve on his best lap-time, resulting in back-to-back events where he didn’t qualify amongst the top 10.
He was understandably furious and vented his anger to the media, where he slammed Ferrari for completely going against his “clear opinion”.
“I had a clear opinion and we went for the opposite. Obviously it’s frustrating to accept it at first, then you are putting yourself in a difficult situation,” Leclerc said after qualifying.
Vasseur has since addressed Leclerc’s comments in the media pen and insists that what a driver says straight after the session doesn’t necessarily reflect their actual feelings, given that they’ve still got adrenaline running through their veins.
READ: Ted Kravitz recalls Christian Horner encounter
“It is true that the picture you have 10 seconds after quali is not always the best one,” Vasseur said.
Despite this, Vasseur did admit that Ferrari didn’t do a “good job”, with Leclerc’s pace having been considerably better than 11th on the grid.
“We can’t say that we did a good job, the pace was bigger and finishing 11th means something we did was wrong,” he added.