David Coulthard loved the ‘assertive’ change he saw Ferrari make with Charles Leclerc at the Canadian Grand Prix

Ferrari came away from the Canadian Grand Prix once again scratching their heads as they emerged with the fourth-fastest car on the grid.

Mercedes became the third team to record a Grand Prix win during the 2025 F1 season through George Russell in Montreal.

McLaren have been the dominant force this season but Red Bull star Max Verstappen has kept them on their toes at almost every event.

This has left Ferrari picking up the pieces and Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton could only finish fifth and sixth at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Hamilton was complaining about a brake issue on the team radio and caused significant damage to his floor after hitting a groundhog.

His Monegasque teammate was making decent progress throughout the race after a tricky qualifying session, but ultimately never looked in contention to secure a fourth podium of the season.

David Coulthard was closely following Ferrari’s progress and spotted something in Leclerc’s radio communication with the team that suggests Fred Vasseur’s outfit might have turned a corner this year.

It may not be enough to put them into the race for the constructors’ championship, but it’s an important step forward if they’re going to challenge for victories again next season.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

David Coulthard loved Ferrari’s ‘assertive’ radio message to Charles Leclerc at the Canadian Grand Prix

Coulthard was covering the race in Montreal for Channel 4, and the commentary team heard a radio message from Leclerc’s race engineer who said: “Plan B, plan B,” to which Leclerc replied, “I think Plan C.”

This was met by a simple, “Copy,” from Leclerc’s engineer as he continued on his second stint.

Coulthard reacted to the message and said: “It’s been really entertaining, hasn’t it?

“Well, I just like when they’re assertive. That’s one of the things, if we were going to, in hindsight, offer some criticism, it would be that there seems to have been a bit of uncertainty in some of their strategy calls in the past.

“But it’s not there, [it’s] absolutely clear, the team offering up an option, the driver calling his own desires and then they just move forward.

“And I think that, when you’re all aligned, just gives you confidence, it gives you performance.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Davide Valsecchi upset with Charles Leclerc after the Canadian Grand Prix

Leclerc has questioned Ferrari’s strategy calls throughout the season and later in the race admitted he wasn’t sure the team had made the right decision.

The 27-year-old believed he could have carried out a one-stop strategy during the Grand Prix, but that would have led to a mammoth stint on the medium compound.

Lando Norris’ late crash would have allowed Leclerc to change his tyres under the safety car, but by then he may have already lost too much performance during a race where tyre management was extremely difficult.

Jacques Villeneuve was unimpressed with Leclerc’s radio messages and believes the team need to be more aligned in their approach to races going forward.

However, the former world champion didn’t have the strongest opinion on the Monegasque’s radio calls.

Davide Valsecchi told Leclerc to ‘shut up and drive’ after hearing what he had to say to his race engineer.

He suggested that Leclerc wasn’t in a position to complain about his strategy given the mistakes he had made earlier in the weekend.