Ferrari fell to third in the 2025 F1 constructors’ standings after Mercedes rival George Russell won the Canadian Grand Prix, as Charles Leclerc led the Scuderia’s race in P5.
The Maranello outfit had only just overtaken the Silver Arrows for second place after Leclerc took second in the Spanish Grand Prix. Yet Mercedes turned what was a six-point deficit into a 16-point lead, as rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli took his first podium with P3 in Canada, too.
Qualifying set Mercedes up to score a double-podium finish in Montreal, as Russell won the Canadian GP from pole position and Antonelli started in P4. Ferrari did not taste any success in Q3 on Saturday as Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc sealed P5 and P8 on the Canadian GP grid.
Charles Leclerc’s desired one-stop Canadian GP strategy would have been ‘ineffective’ for Ferrari
It also did not help Ferrari’s race that Leclerc crashed in FP1 for the Canadian GP and had to sit out all of Friday’s running. The 27-year-old locked up into Turn 3 and clouted the barriers, which forced the Scuderia to change his chassis after ruining the left-hand side of his SF-25.
Qualifying in P8 also convinced Ferrari to start Leclerc on the hard compound C4 Pirelli tyres to go long in his opening stint. But, despite the Monegasque’s pleas, the Scuderia refused to also try a one-stop strategy. So, Leclerc pitted on Lap 28/66 to run another set of hard tyres.
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| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
374 |
| 2 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
199 |
| 3 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
183 |
| 4 |
Red Bull Racing |
162 |
| 5 |
Williams F1 Team |
55 |
However, the Italian edition of Motorsport.com now reports that while a one-stop strategy allowed Haas driver Esteban Ocon to climb from P14 on the grid to P9, it would have been ‘ineffective’ for Ferrari to let Leclerc try and match the Frenchman by staying out until L57.
Ocon was able to make starting on the hard tyres an effective one-stop strategy as he ran in clean air, while his rivals in the Canadian GP hit traffic after their pit stops. The traffic meant those the 28-year-old was fighting for the final points all faced higher levels of degradation.
But Leclerc would not benefit in the same way if Ferrari let the eight-time Grand Prix winner do a one-stop, as those who started the Canadian GP ahead of him did not fall into traffic by pitting twice. Russell was also able to easily pass Leclerc on Lap 26 after his first pit stop.
Ferrari would have been naive to accept Charles Leclerc’s strategy request in Canada
So, while Leclerc begged Ferrari to try a one-stop strategy in the Canadian GP and it worked for Haas with Ocon, it would have been naive of the Scuderia to have sided with his desires. Had Russell after his first of two stops not passed Leclerc, the story may have been different.
Ferrari being assertive with Leclerc about his strategy in Canada impressed David Coulthard, though, having heard the Scuderia tell the Monegasque that they were going to use ‘Plan B’ before quickly moving on when the 46-time podium finisher then requested to use ‘Plan C’.
But Coulthard’s sentiment was not entirely widely shared, as Jacques Villeneuve told Ferrari ‘get their act together’ regarding Leclerc’s Canadian GP strategy. The 1997 F1 champion felt it was not great that the Maranello outfit and the Monegasque were not on the same page.
