Canadian Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc says Ferrari 'have to be better' after strategy 'mistake'

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was second fastest during third practice on Saturday but failed to make the top 10 shootout in qualifying

Charles Leclerc said Ferrari "have to be better" after the team overruled his wishes on tyres and he qualified 11th at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Leclerc fell foul of tricky conditions in a wet qualifying session in Montreal and said Ferrari were "making our life way too difficult in those situations".

It was the latest example in recent years of Ferrari's strategy decisions being called into question.

"We can't afford those mistakes again," Leclerc said.

The 25-year-old was on the wrong end of questionable calls from the pit lane several times last year as he tried to battle Max Verstappen for the championship, and lost at least two victories as a result.

The errors have continued into this season, despite new team boss Frederic Vasseur making changes to the strategy team over the winter.

In this case, Leclerc's complaints arose from the start of the second qualifying session on a drying track at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Leclerc told Ferrari over the radio on his first lap out of the pits that he thought the track was ready for slick, dry-weather tyres and he wanted to come in straight away for a change, before setting a time on the treaded intermediate tyres.

The team overruled him and asked him to stay out to set a "banker" lap.

He did so, but when Leclerc rejoined on slicks, he was unable to improve his time and ended the session only 11th fastest, failing to progress to the top 10 shootout. He will start 10th after his team-mate Carlos Sainz was given a three-place grid penalty.

Williams driver Alex Albon chose slick tyres for the start of the session and ended it fastest of all in a car that is normally uncompetitive. McLaren's Lando Norris, also in a car much slower than the Ferrari, did what Leclerc wanted to do and ended the session third.

Leclerc said: "I called for slicks on the out lap; it was clearly for slicks. The track was dry, I think Alex did that and went earlier than everybody on the slicks. That was clearly the right choice. There would have been no risks taken.

"But for some reason, the team decided otherwise.

"We are just making our life way too difficult in those situations. I had a clear opinion. We decided to do something else. I am frustrated.

"Having said that, other drivers did the same strategy as us and went through to Q3.

"You are just relying on small details instead of an easy Q2 going through when the track is dry, you need slick tyres. I don't know what happened."

He added: "I will speak internally with the team and try to understand what we can do. It's obviously not the first time in those situations that we are on the wrong side."

Leclerc said he could not fully explain why he was unable to improve when he switched to the slick tyres when other drivers did so. He said traffic and having to slow down for other cars and subsequently losing tyre temperature could be to blame.

"Really tricky, but again you are just making yourself in a bad situation," he said. "Depending a lot on traffic on your out lap on the slicks, if you have people on inters coming behind when it's raining that you are slowing down a little bit, you are sliding everywhere.

"It's not an ideal situation. It's so much easier to go earlier."

It capped a difficult day for Ferrari, in which Sainz qualified eighth but was demoted to 11th after being given a three-place penalty for impeding Alpine's Pierre Gasly.

Sainz became tangled up with Alpha Tauri's Yuki Tsunoda - both were building up to quick laps at the final chicane as Gasly approached at more than 180mph on a flying lap. The incident prevented Gasly from progressing beyond the first session.

Gasly, who failed to progress from Q1, said: "It is completely unacceptable to be driving the way Carlos did. Coming at 300, he is doing 30km/h in the final chicane focusing on his own lap.

"You are not alone on the race track. I could not even close the lap. It would have put us in the top six, and it was also extremely dangerous and completely unnecessary."

The stewards' report into the incident said that Sainz had been "surprised" that Tsunoda overtook him into the corner and that meant he accelerated late to start his lap.

Stewards ruled that Sainz had "unnecessarily impeded" Gasly.

• Verstappen on pole as Hulkenberg given grid penalty

• Leclerc will wear Villeneuve tribute after talks with family

Some limelight for two backmarkers

Alex Albon was fastest in Q2 but did not manage to set a time in Q3 before the session was red-flagged. Rain then prevented any driver from improving their position

The difficult conditions provided an opportunity for two drivers who drive for normally uncompetitive teams to shine.

Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg qualified second between championship leader Max Verstappen and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, while Albon's decision to run slick tyres from the start of the second session led to him ending it fastest of all.

Hulkenberg, who returned to F1 this year on a full-time basis for the first time since being dropped by Renault at the end of 2019, said that the result was "definitely nice".

That was before he was demoted three places to fifth on the grid for failing to stay within the speed limit during a red-flag period but the sentiment remains true.

"We stayed on top of the situation and had good communication throughout, clean laps and we rewarded ourselves with this sweet qualifying result," the German said, after benefiting from being one of only three drivers who managed a second flying lap before McLaren's Oscar Piastri crashed and brought the session to a halt.

"We have qualified out of position for dry pace. Whatever happens tomorrow we will take the moment and enjoy it and fight as hard as we can tomorrow."

Albon said he had been sure going for slicks was the right decision, although memories of Mercedes driver George Russell making an error by choosing dry tyres too early in a similar situation in Canada last year had given him a few doubts.

"There was a line and I was glad I had a clear visor on because it was honestly about 15-20cm, if you went either way you were on the wet side of the circuit and you would have definitely crashed," the British-born Thai said.

"But I really like those conditions. It feels like the more you're willing to risk, the more tyre temperature you have and then the more grip you have.

"It's a positive spiral. You just keep going quicker and quicker and that's what it felt like.

"I knew if I trusted it, I would get the tyre temp and I would have the grip and it's when you slow down that you have the problem.

"On my quick lap I was stuck behind Lewis (Hamilton) but I knew if I backed off a little bit I would have lost the tyre temp and it was just about pushing through. I enjoyed it."

Williams are this year beginning a restructure they hope will lead to a revival under new team principal James Vowles and Albon said he hoped the result "can show the factory and the race team this is where we want to be in a few years".

Race expectations

Max Verstappen has won five of the seven races so far this season

The race on Sunday is expected to be dry and the three biggest names in F1 start at the front, with Verstappen and Alonso ahead of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, whose team-mate George Russell is alongside him on the second row.

Red Bull have won all seven races so far this season and Verstappen, a runaway championship leader after a series of difficult races for his team-mate Sergio Perez, starts as an overwhelming favourite.

Alonso, third in the championship behind the two Red Bull drivers, was not optimistic of taking on Verstappen in a fight for victory.

"Let's see if we can challenge Max a little bit," he said. "I don't think we are on that level but instead of being 20 or 30 seconds behind hopefully we are a little bit closer."

Hamilton added: "Hopefully we will be fighting the top two drivers, Alonso and Max tomorrow, and hopefully we can put pressure on at least one of them."

• Can Mobeen resist being dragged back into the madness? Guz Khan stars in the brand new series of Man Like Mobeen

• Will they fight to keep their daughter alive? A haunting new drama from Jack Thorne, starring Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen