Charles Leclerc views the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix as another chance for Ferrari to outperform Red Bull, similar to his recent victory in Monaco. Leclerc, who has beaten Max Verstappen in two of the last three races, believes the Montreal circuit might not favor Red Bull’s car.
He stated that while Monaco was particularly advantageous for Ferrari, the Montreal track might be more neutral. McLaren’s Lando Norris, who recently finished ahead of Verstappen in Miami, also thinks Ferrari could be the favorites in Canada, though he expects a close race.
Both Norris and Leclerc believe Red Bull’s struggles with kerbs, a key factor in their lack of pace in Monaco where Verstappen only managed to finish sixth, could be a disadvantage again at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Leclerc commented, “I don’t think their strength is kerb riding and here there is quite a lot of kerb riding.”
Rain is also forecasted at various times over the weekend.
Verstappen acknowledged, “I always knew Monaco would not be an easy weekend. We had a good direction we wanted to work in. It takes time, step by step. We will try to improve that.
“This is a good opportunity to find performance we didn’t think about in the first place. There is quite a lot of lap time to be unlocked from that, and finally we are putting a lot of effort into that.
“We still have a quick car, but some tracks just work a little bit better for us than others. Here, it’s not just the track layout; it’s dealing with the weather and how wet it is going to be.”
Norris mentioned that the F1 field had become competitive enough for drivers from Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren to realistically believe they had a chance to win races.
The 24-year-old Briton finished less than a second behind Verstappen, who won in Imola the week before Monaco, and his teammate Oscar Piastri was second in Monaco.
Norris stated, “The drivers in the top six cars are all entering races thinking maybe this could be our weekend if we can make a small difference, if we can find that last 0.01 seconds.
“And that makes everyone push even harder, right? It kind of makes us take a bit more risk and get a bit more out of ourselves, which is an exciting time, pushing ourselves to the absolute limit.”
Leclerc, who reduced Verstappen’s championship lead to 31 points with his Monaco win, downplayed the idea that he was becoming a title contender.
“I am not thinking about the championship yet,” Leclerc said. “But the goal is definitely to win races every weekend.
“I still believe Red Bull has the upper hand in performance. Fortunately for us, Imola, Monaco, and probably this track don’t highlight the strengths of their car.
“But I think from the next race in Barcelona onwards, we might see Red Bull perform more like they did at the start of the year.
“We need to seize every opportunity, and hopefully, our upcoming upgrades will help us stay ahead of them.”
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