Charles Leclerc has identified a lack of feeling on the brakes of his Ferrari as to why he struggled through Canadian GP Sprint Qualifying.
The Monegasque will line up sixth in Montreal for Saturday’s shorter race, having been out-qualified by team-mate Lewis Hamilton for the second time in three Sprint races, after China.
Hamilton has looked the more comfortable of the two Ferrari drivers all weekend and was on the front row after the first runs of SQ3 before being overhauled by Kimi Antonelli and the two McLarens as Ferrari banked a third-row lockout on a track it was not expected to be that competitive at.
Due to its small turbo, the SF-26 lacks some top-end speed, but for Leclerc, after Friday, this was not the biggest concern, as he expressed a lack of confidence on the brakes, with the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve featuring four heavy braking zones into Turns 1, 8, 10, and 12.
“Honestly, on my side, I kind of expected it; I haven’t been at ease with the car,” Leclerc explained.
“I’m really struggling with the brakes on my side of the garage for some reason, so we need to look into it and try to find something for Saturday.
“Otherwise, it’s going to be a very long weekend because on the brakes, I get into the corners hoping that I don’t end up going straight.
“That’s the main issue at the moment. Other than that, the car feels actually quite okay. Lewis has been incredibly quick this weekend, but on my side, I just need to work on the feelings with the brakes, and hopefully we can turn the situation around.
“I think we have quite a good idea of what’s going on. Whether we have a fix is another story. We’ll try to deal with it in the best possible way and see.”
