Charles Leclerc was seemingly frustrated on the radio after facing engine issues and losing chunks of time on straights in a disappointing F1 Canadian Grand Prix outing. He suggested to the team that it would be better to stop than race with the slow laptimes.
Ferrari faced a slow start to the Canadian GP after Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz qualified P11 and P12 respectively. Within a few laps into the race, the team informed Leclerc that there were some issues with his engine and that he would start losing time, which ultimately happened. Losing a great amount of time per lap, the team decided to switch to slick tires despite the warning of rain.
While this might have been an advantage later in the race, the rain disrupted Ferrari's plan and Leclerc told the team that it would be better to retire the car. Here is the complete discussion between Charles Leclerc and his race engineer over the radio:
Bryan Bozzi: “Rain is clearing.”
Charles Leclerc: “Yeah but track is too wet.”
Charles Leclerc: “For f*ck sake… If we are losing 1.5 second on the straight, then there’s no fucking point, I want to stop.”
Charles Leclerc: “Otherwise let’s put inters and drive normal.”
Charles Leclerc retires from the 2024 F1 Canadian GP
The team switched their #16 car back to the intermediate tires as Charles Leclerc suggested. However, he was running at the back of the grid over 62 seconds behind Max Verstappen in the lead of the race. Given that there were seemingly few chances for a safety car, he retired from the race, becoming the second retirement until that point.
Ferrari has been running very competitively this season, currently sitting second in the constructor's championship. Charles Leclerc is currently in the same position in the driver's standings.
Both Ferrari drivers have won a race each so far this season (Sainz in Australia and Leclerc in Monaco). The title fight is quite intense as McLaren has been within the top three as well.
Ferrari not gaining any points in Canada will affect their position in the championship as McLaren will draw closer. They currently sit third in the championship, 40 points behind Ferrari. With more than half of the season still to go, it is tough to say who will come out on top.
Red Bull has also seemingly lost its dominance. Although Max Verstappen still leads the championship and is extremely competitive during the races, his teammate Sergio Perez (who recently signed a two-year extension with the team) has not been performing as well as the team might expect.
He was out of points in Monaco and crashed out in Canada, where he was also running out of the top ten. The constructor's championship could be in contention for other teams if Perez's form does not improve later in the season.