The Ferrari Formula 1 team says it has a short-term fix in place for the hydraulic problem that caused Carlos Sainz’s early Azerbaijan Grand Prix retirement, but it will only be able to assess Charles Leclerc’s failed engine on Wednesday.
Ferrari had a catastrophic Baku race, with Sainz dropped out of fourth place after only nine laps and Leclerc’s engine blowing as he led on lap 21.
In the immediate aftermath, team principal Mattia Binotto admitted that he had no answers for the cause of the failures – with Leclerc’s a particular concern given his engine breakage while leading in Spain two races earlier and a spate of power unit problems among Ferrari’s customer teams.
In a social media post on Tuesday night, Ferrari said the engine from Leclerc’s car would not reach its Maranello factory for a proper examination until Wednesday but that “an initial assessment should be completed by the evening”.
There is only a one-week gap between the Azerbaijan GP and the next round in Canada.
But Ferrari said the hydraulics from Sainz’s car “have already been examined” and “a short-term fix is in place for Canada, while work is on-going on mid/long-term solutions”.
Ferrari is now 80 points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship, and Leclerc has dropped to third in the drivers’ standings, 34 points away from leader Max Verstappen.
Sainz is only fifth in the drivers’ table, behind Mercedes’ George Russell.
