Charles Leclerc ruled out of Canadian GP second practice after earlier crash

Ferrari has confirmed that Charles Leclerc will not take part in second practice at the Canadian Grand Prix because they have been forced to change the survival cell on his car.

Leclerc crashed out of first F1 practice inside the opening 20 minutes of running at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Leclerc locked up into Turn 3 and ran wide across the chicane.

He misjudged how much space he had available and hit the wall on the left-hand side as a result.

While the crash didn’t look too severe initially, the damage has been worse than expected.

Ferrari were forced to change Leclerc’s chassis, and the survival cell on his SF-25 was damaged.

As a result, Leclerc will not take part in FP2.

Ferrari released the following statement ahead of FP2: “Due to the damage to his car sustained in the crash in FP1, Charles Leclerc will not take part in FP2, as the survival cell on his SF-25 needs to be replaced.

“As per the regulations, Charles will be able to drive in FP3.”

Hamilton and Leclerc ‘compromised’

Leclerc’s lack of running on Friday will have a knock-on effect.

This means that he can’t complete any race simulations or help Ferrari improve their car setup.

Leclerc’s absence will also impact Lewis Hamilton’s weekend in terms of back-to-back tyre comparisons.

Giving his view on the crash, Martin Brundle said ahead of FP2: “I mean if you’re going to do that then today is a better day to do it than Saturday. I am not surprised there’s that much damage because when you pluck the wheels like that and they swing around especially at the rear with the gearbox and the driveshafts, and the front.

“You’ve got the tethers and it keeps the wheels close to the car but then they come back in and damage the chassis. That was actually a big crash in terms of damage.

“It’s a great shame. They will lose one car in terms of doing longer runs in FP2 and getting the high fuel data. It compromises Lewis and Charles through the weekend so they’ve got some catching up to do. FP3 tomorrow morning will be super important for them.”