- Vasseur labeled Canada a strong weekend despite Charles Leclerc’s struggles.
- Hamilton secured second place to boost Ferrari’s development confidence.
- Monaco will reveal if Ferrari can maintain their current momentum.
Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur believes Canada was a genuinely strong weekend for the team, even with Charles Leclerc enduring what he called the toughest race weekend of his Formula 1 career.
The big test now is whether Ferrari can carry that pace and confidence into Monaco, where Leclerc’s home race will expose whether Canada was a one-off or a positive step forward.
Encouraging for Ferrari
Vasseur’s post-Canada thoughts matter because they came after a weekend in which Ferrari split in two opposite directions. Lewis Hamilton finished second in Montreal for his best Grand Prix result since joining Ferrari, and Vasseur said the Brit had looked positive from the first practice lap to the last lap of the race.
At the same time, Leclerc finished fourth but admitted he never felt comfortable in the car and described the event as the “most difficult weekend of his F1 career.” Vasseur still insisted the wider result was encouraging because Ferrari did not bring fresh upgrades to Canada, whereas Mercedes and McLaren did, yet Ferrari still left with a podium and some points.
Panic on the streets of Monaco?
It was the sort of weekend that could change the mood around Ferrari’s season. Hamilton’s overall pace suggests the SF-26 has more in it than Ferrari’s weekends have sometimes shown, while Leclerc’s struggles underline that the team have not fully nailed the car across both sides of the garage.
There is also the issue of pure straight-line speed, which both drivers agree is an ongoing problem. For Ferrari fans, that creates an interesting dynamic ahead of Monaco. If Hamilton’s Canada form was the start of something, Ferrari may be able to start exerting pressure on Mercedes, at least on the more technical tracks.
But if Leclerc’s discomfort spills over to the streets of Monte Carlo, it could quickly turn into another weekend of mixed messages.
No new parts, no problem for Ferrari
Canada reinforced Ferrari’s place as Mercedes’ closest challengers, along with McLaren, but Kimi Antonelli and George Russell are still the pair to beat.
In Canada, Hamilton’s P2 came after a late pass on Max Verstappen, while Leclerc salvaged fourth despite fighting brake issues, tyre graining and a general feeling of instability through the weekend.
Vasseur admitted Ferrari had expected a difficult weekend because rivals arrived with new parts, which makes the final result look stronger on paper.
Caution ahead of Monaco
The Scuderia now head to Monaco needing to prove that Hamilton’s comfort in Canada was not track-specific, and, equally, that Leclerc and the team can understand quickly why he was so far off it in Montreal.
Vasseur chose his words carefully and was careful not to overstate the result, pointing out that Monaco will bring different conditions and a different challenge.
