Would the one-stop strategy Leclerc wanted have paid off? Canadian GP data

Not for the first time this year, Charles Leclerc and his strategy team were at odds over which was the right way to go.

Ferrari’s car has proved more competitive in race conditions than it has over a single lap. When the team has found itself caught between multiple strategy options, Leclerc has often urged his team to risk making fewer pit stops.

On this occasion he was overruled. Ferrari committed him to a two-stop strategy when they brought him in for the first time on lap 28 of 70.

However other drivers exploited the very strategy Leclerc wanted, to good effect. Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz Jnr started 14th and 16th respectively, and rose to claim the final two points-paying positions.

Leclerc gained three places to finish fifth, but some of those positions were going to come his way whichever of the two most realistic strategies Ferrari chose. He picked up places from Fernando Alonso in the slower Aston Martin, the other Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton which was damaged when he hit a groundhog and Lando Norris who crashed out.

The Ferrari driver’s race circumstances were different to the other drivers who committed to single stops. At the point Leclerc was lobbying Ferrari to let him stay out, Ocon and Sainz knew they could look forward to many more laps in clear air, with only Alonso making his way past them.

In contrast the Ferrari driver was in the thick of the action at the front. George Russell passed him for second place on lap 26. As Leclerc made for the pits two laps later, Max Verstappen was bearing down on him.

Being passed costs time, and so does running in the dirty air of a car which has just got ahead. Leclerc might also have been caught by Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri soon afterwards.

But when Ferrari review the decision they may have cause to question whether they made the right call. Verstappen’s lap times start to drop off relative to Russell’s soon after Leclerc pitted. That would have been partly a reaction to Leclerc’s pit stop, but the driver will surely feel they should have waited until they knew they couldn’t keep him behind before committing to the two-stop strategy.

Another driver who made a single pit stop was Yuki Tsunoda. However despite pitting on the lap before Sainz and Ocon he wasn’t able to get among them and finished outside the points.

2025 Canadian Grand Prix lap chart

The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

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2025 Canadian Grand Prix race chart

The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

2025 Canadian Grand Prix lap times

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:

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2025 Canadian Grand Prix fastest laps

Each driver’s fastest lap:

2025 Canadian Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

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2025 Canadian Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

2025 Canadian Grand Prix

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• Would the one-stop strategy Leclerc wanted have paid off? Canadian GP data
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