Leclerc calls Montreal worst weekend as Ferrari fights tyres, brakes
Charles Leclerc endured a miserable weekend in Montréal, hampered throughout Sprint Qualifying by a persistent brake-balance issue that left him unable to attack corners with confidence. He described the round as "one, if not the worst weekend of my career," saying he "wasn't at ease" and that he "never had a lap after FP1 where he could truly feel his SF-26." Leclerc repeatedly failed to get the tyres into their operating window, blaming problems on rubber that was "completely out of the window" and brakes that weren't working, even warning over the radio that he'd end up "either in the wall or P8." In Sprint Qualifying, Lewis Hamilton topped SQ1 and kept the fastest time despite a late lock-up on his final run, with Ferrari's two cars qualifying fifth and sixth. In the Sprint itself, Leclerc started behind Oscar Piastri and was held up by the McLaren despite showing stronger medium-tyre pace, recovering to finish fifth. For the Grand Prix grid, Hamilton qualified fifth and Leclerc eighth, three places further back.
Ferrari engineers said they had a working hypothesis for the brake-balance problem but were uncertain whether a fix could be applied before the Sprint and Grand Prix qualifying sessions, with the investigation set to cover operating temperature windows, pad material, migration settings, and potential brake-by-wire inconsistencies. The team warned that an unresolved issue could make it "a very long weekend." Team principal Frederic Vasseur said colder track temperatures and a one-step harder compound made it harder to get brakes and tyres into the right window and that the problem affected Leclerc more than Hamilton — though he added it was "not an excuse." With no upgrades brought to Montreal, any immediate fixes would have to come through setup compromises or part swaps rather than new components, with further updates reportedly targeted for the Barcelona Grand Prix in June. Leclerc, who said he was "really struggling" and feared he would "end up going straight" into corners, left Ferrari balancing urgent troubleshooting with preparing both cars for the race sessions ahead.
