Bitter news for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari: The drive unit on the Formula 1 title candidate’s car is defective and cannot be repaired. The team did not provide any specific information about the reasons for the failure. The racing team faces a difficult decision.
Title candidate Charles Leclerc has to fear a grid penalty quite early in the Formula 1 season after the engine failure on his Ferrari. As the Scuderia announced after the Spanish Grand Prix, the drive unit used in Barcelona cannot be repaired. That is the result of detailed investigations on Monday in Maranello. Leclerc used his second power unit in the 6th of 22 races of the season, only three are allowed per year without penalty.
Ferrari must decide whether a new drive will be used in Leclerc’s cars at its home race in Monaco next Sunday. The World Cup runner-up could also fall back on the components already used from the start of the season. Rival Max Verstappen still uses his first drive in his Red Bull. Ferrari did not provide any specific information about the reasons for the failure. Leclerc suddenly lost speed while in the lead and had to park the car in the pits. As a result, world champion Verstappen was able to win the race and take the lead in the world championship rankings for the first time this year.
Leclerc’s turbocharger and the MGU-H energy recovery unit are “damaged and cannot be repaired,” the Ferrari statement said: “After a full analysis of the failure, we are confident that the cause is not a faulty design or a reliability issue .” The Scuderia did not want to reveal more, so the error could have external reasons or have been caused by incorrect use. For Leclerc it was the first technical failure of the season, before that he had finished on the podium in every race.
