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Charles Leclerc’s failed Ferrari Formula 1 engine from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is broken beyond repair and he could take a grid penalty at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Leclerc retired from the lead of the Baku race, the second time in three grands prix the Ferrari man failed to finish because of a reliability problem.
He had lost a win in Spain due to a power unit problem the team never disclosed the cause of but that caused terminal damage to the MGU-H and turbocharger.
Now Ferrari has suggested the Baku failure could have been a legacy of the problem in Spain.
The team has said that is “one possible cause” and has confirmed its post-Azerbaijan investigation has found Leclerc’s power unit from Baku is “beyond repair”.
“We are now working on countermeasures to strengthen the package and the situation is under control,” Ferrari said.
That final declaration will seem unusually confident in the context of Leclerc’s problem, a double retirement in Baku (where Carlos Sainz had a hydraulics problem) and four MGU-K failures across its customer teams in two weekends.
If Ferrari cannot use an old turbocharger, Leclerc will take a grid penalty of some kind in Canada.
Drivers can use three each of the major power unit components in the season before getting an automatic grid penalty.
Leclerc still has one penalty-free change of the V6, MGU-H and MGU-K but he had already switched to a third turbocharger because of the Spain failure.
A full suite of power unit components sounds likely and Leclerc will have a 10-place grid penalty when he next uses a new turbocharger.
He hinted on Friday in Montreal that Ferrari could take the grid drop here.
“Obviously, we are not in the best situation possible,” said Leclerc.
“For the power unit change I think there are still ongoing discussions, we’ll try and push [back] as much as possible the decision.
“For now, no decisions are taken. But it’s not the best situation for me.”
Montreal is a power-sensitive circuit so it would make sense that Ferrari plays it safe and switches to an all-new power unit.
The nature of the track also makes it a better option to recover through the field, too.
“This is part of our discussions,” said Leclerc. “And it’s up to us to choose the best track where you want to get a penalty – if you get a penalty.
“And this is one of the tracks where it’s actually quite easy to overtake.
“But there are also some of the tracks in the next three or four races where it’s easier to overtake too.
“We’ll discuss and try and take the best decision from there.”
