On paper, the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix was full of promise for Ferrari. The SF-25 has struggled this season in the hotter temperatures and whilst Montreal was warmer than expected, it was not the kind of scorchio heat the teams had endured in Spain and Miami.
Yet a careless Charles Leclerc unnecessarily binned his SF-25 at turn three in the first practice session less than fifteen minutes after the pit lane light went green. The circuit de Gilles Villeneuve is a quasi street track layout where the walls are ever close and building momentum gradually into the weekend is the key to a driver’s success.
The fate of the Monegasque was sealed when Ferrari discovered a crack in his tub meaning the team were required to do a complete rebuild which could not be scrutineered by the stewards until Saturday morning. Losing an hour and 45 minutes of practice time at such a track is extremely punitive which reflected in Leclerc’s qualifying effort where ha cold only manage P8 for the start of the Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s hopes holed by groundhog
Meanwhile in the other car Lewis Hamilton built nicely into the weekend at a circuit where he is the joint record holder with Michael Schumacher after claiming seven victories on the Isle de Notre Dame during his illustrious career. Across the four sessions before the race on Sunday, Hamilton was generally the fifth quickest amongst the top teams and indeed that is where he qualified for the race.
With Leclerc languish in P8 on the grid, Hamilton had now reduced the deficit to his team mate in Grand Prix qualifying this season to 7-3, a similar result to his predecessor in 2024. Charles is an expert qualifier and even the mighty Hamilton, who in his pomp was the King of Saturday’s, usually has no answer to his younger team mate but at a track where he has gone so well over the year’s expectations were high for Hamilton’s first podium of the season.
Yet it was once again not meant to be for the former world champion who having moved into second place by lap 13 struck a resident groundhog which tore a hole in his floor and caused a loss of 20 points of downforce. This roughly equates to half a second a lap and with that kind of handicap, Hamilton was fortunate to finish inside the top ten and before the late safety car faced the spectre of a charging Nico Hulkenberg overtaking him for a second weekend in a row.
Throughout the weekend the paddock swirled with rumours that Ferrari were unhappy with team principal Fred Vasseur, as Italian media reports were predicting the Frenchman would be ousted unless results dramatically improved. This resulted in a passionate monologue from Lewis Hamilton, who was nigh on obsequious in his appeal for Vasseur to be left alone as he claimed it Fred was the key to him joining Ferrari and he was the man to “take us to the top.”
Vasseur’s big decision gone bad
Yet despite his Hamilton’s respect within the sport, his appeal to lay off Vasseur went unheeded and the Ferrari boss was significant by his absence on TV throughout the 14 hours of broadcasting from Sky Europe. Leclerc did make amends for his sloppy attitude to starting the weekend in finishing in P5 ahead of his team mate, but for the safety car the red cars would have been over a pit stop behind the winner George Russell.
Ferrari had raised expectations for the 2025 season with the recruitment of Hamilton together with the fact they had the fastest car across the closing six rounds of last year. Then they closed a 75 point gap to McLaren from the beginning of the two triple header weekends to just 14 points as the chequered flag fell in the Abu Dhabi evening to confirm the end of racing in 2024.
With the current set of F1 car design regulations set for drastic revision at the end of this year, expectations were that the teams would merely build their 2025 cars as an evolution of their predecessors. Yet Vasseur made the remarkable declaration in December, that the SF-25 would be a ‘whole new car’ and more surpassing suggested the team had arrived at this conclusion almost as a by product of the design process.
“Sometimes you don’t realise you’re taking risks until afterward. The car will be completely new; I think we’ll have less than 1% of the parts in common with the 2024 car,” said Vasseur at the Maranello end of season celebration. Whilst the Ferrari boss has been defended this weekend for ‘not being an engineer’ which in some way is meant to exonerate him for other woeful season for the Scuderia.
SF-25 a HUGE mistake
Yet even our non-engineer executive editor at TJ13 was shocked at the time the news broke of the all new 2025 F1 Ferrari machine, given the rampant success of its predecessor. Just one more race weekend and on the trajectory Ferrari had travelled, the 2024 F1 constructors title was theirs for the first time in seventeen years.
Of course Vasseur may be no engineer, but he rubber stamped the decision to scrap the SF-24, which proved criminal, given its successor suffered the ignominy of being disqualified in China and after ten rounds of competition has just two podiums to its name.
Leclerc was notable in his absence of support for his under fire team boss and again was critical of the team’s strategy on more than one occasions during the race. The F1 46 podium driver was heavily criticised by Italian racing driver and pundit, Davide Valsechhe, who called for Leclerc to “shut up and drive.”
“Leclerc this weekend was flying, right? He had seven or eight laps in FP1, [and] he was top of the board – then he crashed, [and] missed the second session and it was his fault,” said Valsecche with somewhat of a sarcastic tone.“Then he got in FP3, he was second, then he got to quali, he made the mistake in his last try, he complained about [Isack] Hadjar who was far away in front.
Leclerc told to “shut up and drive”
“We can say that the frustration was because he was competitive, quickest in the first sector then he started the race and he kept complaining with the radio about the strategy.
“How is this possible? I mean, why do you keep complaining on a weekend when you can score a victory or you can stay on the podium, your weekend is full of mistakes, it’s not the right time to complain! It’s the right time to drive and say sorry and then it could be better and we’ll win next weekend.
“I cannot understand why the team take this situation, I cannot understand why someone is not saying, ‘Shut up and drive,’ please, you are one of the best in the world, just drive!” The Italian concluded.
Ferrari appear to be in huge crisis. Their team principal has received the dreaded vote of confidence, their big name new driver is ploughing around just ahead of the midfield, and treasured son Charles Leclerc is now said to be talking to Mercedes – having lost hope the team will ever provide him with a championship winning car.
MORE F1 NEWS – Briatore set for Ferrari
Briatore brushes off Renault shake-up, dismisses impact on Alpine F1 as De Meo exits, meanwhile the Italian boss is touted for Ferrari role – Flavio Briatore has dismissed any suggestion that Luca de Meo’s sudden resignation as CEO of the Renault Group will disrupt the Alpine Formula 1 team. He insisted that the move would not affect the immediate future of the Enstone-based outfit.
Speaking to reporters in Montreal, Briatore, who was handpicked by de Meo in 2023 to serve as an executive advisor for Renault’s F1 operations, was quick to allay concerns over a potential leadership vacuum following de Meo’s departure in July. The flamboyant 75-year-old Italian, who is increasingly seen as Alpine’s de facto team boss following the quiet departure of team principal Oliver Oakes, declared that the project remains firmly on course.
“No impact, nothing,” he said bluntly when asked what de Meo’s resignation might mean for the Alpine team. “We continue exactly as planned.”….. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
