Ferrari had a major setback at the Canadian Grand Prix earlier this month. Power unit issues, a collision and a double DNF summed up a shockingly poor weekend for the Maranello team.
After coming from the high of winning in Monaco with Charles Leclerc, Ferrari was expected to be well at the front with Red Bull and McLaren. Unfortunately for the likes of the Tifosi though, that was not the case.
What happened in Montreal?
Both Ferraris struggled to find pace in low grip conditions during qualifying. Starting the race in P11 and P12 was bound to be tricky, however, due to the wet-dry conditions throughout the entire race, Ferrari was expected to make some gains.
However, things went from bad to worse at the Scuderia. Charles Leclerc was low on power from lap 2 onwards. He eventually pitted to reset his car which put him a lap down, but he ultimately had to retire his car.
Carlos Sainz on the other hand had contact with Valtteri Bottas’ Sauber early on. As a result, the Spaniard had front wing and floor damage. Later on, as the track dried, Sainz’s slick tyres slipped on a wet patch on the track. This led to him spinning, having contact with Williams’ Alex Albon and retiring from the race.
Back at the front in Spain?
The Montreal circuit is one of the more challenging ones on the calendar with tight corners and demanding braking sections. The weather conditions added to the challenge too in this year’s edition.
On tracks like Suzuka and Montreal, Ferrari has struggled with finding the right window for tyre performance and setups. As a result, the SF-24 struggles on the softs but performs quite well on the hards. This has affected their qualifying performances.
Ferrari team Principal Fred Vasseur said he is not too bothered by the team’s poor results in Montreal. He said that the team isn’t going to overreact or change its usual approach that has seen it start the 2024 season strong.
It is not uncommon in Formula 1 to see top teams fair well on all but one circuit in a season. A recent example is Red Bull at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.
“It does seem to be that for whatever reason there’s one track that even the best cars struggle at. And potentially maybe Canada was that particular situation [for Ferrari].
Let’s see what happens in Spain and probably further on to Austria and see if that performance that we saw in Monaco will get stronger.
I think it will only change back to a more competitive Ferrari. It will not blow the Red Bull away. It’s still going to have to fight very hard with the McLaren, but it’s going to be in that mix. And [Barcelona] is a circuit historically they have done quite well at.” – Johnny Herbert speaking to Best Online Poker Sites.
With the nature of the sport, it will not be surprising to see Ferrari bounce back into the fight for the title in Spain. This is especially true as Ferrari is expected to bring upgrades to Barcelona according to Formu1.uno.
Both Ferraris will carry the new specifications of the new upgrades this weekend. The upgrades to be expected are an updated floor, changes to the rear bodywork, tray area and ramps towards the diffuser, as well as improved small deflector elements.
The Barcelona circuit will be a great track to evaluate the SF-24’s capabilities. It is a traditional circuit that has often highlighted a car’s true aerodynamic potential.
