After a fantastic race result in Monaco just a couple of weeks ago, Ferrari found themselves facing the harsh realities of sport in Canada as both their drivers got knocked out of Q2, and a double DNF followed on Sunday.
Carlos Sainz struggled with pace during the Canadian Grand Prix. In a rain-soaked Montreal, Ferrari and Sainz could not get the car in the right window, leaving them far behind Verstappen, Mercedes and McLaren, and ending up battling with the RBs, Alpines and Albon instead.
The 3-time Grand Prix winner had contact with Valtteri Bottas midway through the race, leaving him without a front wing endplate.
“It was one of those races where the pace never clicked, We had some damage in the car from a couple of contacts that we had during that crazy race but there was never really enough pace today to make any overtakes.”
Sainz tried to salvage some points for the team after his switch to the dry tyres. As he spent most of the race on the fringes of the top 10, the Spaniard eventually got himself inside it with a passes on Ricciardo and Albon.
However, his day was on lap 53. At Turn 6, he lost the car and spun around, collecting the Williams driver in the process.
“Only when we went on slicks there towards the end of a race I started to feel there was maybe potential for some points, and I was starting to become a bit quicker.
“I was just trying to take some risks to overtake people in the DRS trains to try and be close in sector two, probably touched maybe the wet [patch].
“I don’t know. It’s a very strange way that I lost it there in mid-corner and ended our race.”
Sainz is optimistic that this is just a minor setback and the team will bounce back for the Spaniard’s home race in 11 days from now.
“It was a very weak, very disappointing weekend for the whole team because we never seemed to find a good pace.
“I think Canada was a bit of a one-off, a bit of a special one and we need to understand what happened as a team.There was clearly something the others were doing in qualifying with the tyres to prep them better.”‘
This is Ferrari’s first double DNF of the season since Baku 2022. With Max Verstappen winning in Montreal, he now has a 56-point advantage over Charles Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship; Sainz sits a further 30 back.
Red Bull has a 49-point lead over Ferrari on the Constructors’ side.
