Charles Leclerc forgetfulness behind bizarre Ferrari power unit issue

charles leclerc, ferrari, monaco — Photo: © LAT Images

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

1 reactie

Charles Leclerc forgetfulness behind bizarre Ferrari power unit issue

Leclerc reported a power unit problem midway through second practice.

Sam Hall

Friday 10 June 2022 21:30

Charles Leclerc has revealed a forgetful mistake inside his Ferrari cockpit lay behind his power unit troubles in second practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Ferrari has suffered a number of PU problems recently, with the most damaging in the Spanish Grand Prix when Leclerc was forced to retire from the lead.

Late in FP2 in Baku, the timesheet-topping Monégasque driver reported a loss of power over the team radio before making an alteration to the engine mode.

Article continues under video

Asked if he was aware of what the problem had been, Leclerc conceded: "Actually, there were no power unit problems.

"It was just me that forgot that I had changed something which made me lose power but yeah, nothing weird."

Ferrari braced for hard Red Bull fight

Leclerc and Max Verstappen have gone wheel to wheel on a number of occasions this year and Azerbaijan looks set to again pit Ferrari against Red Bull.

Sergio Perez was second-fastest on Friday, with championship-leader Verstappen third.

Asked if he expects a hard fight on Sunday, Leclerc added: "I think it will be.

"We've had a good Friday because overall, I think we have improved quite a lot from FP1 to FP2 but there is still another step that we need to do from today to tomorrow.

"I also felt that in FP2, nobody really put a lap in and neither did we. Actually, I think Max and Carlos [Sainz] didn't actually improve on the softs so there are still quite a lot of question marks.

"The positive to take away is that the tyre degradation was good and the race pace was very strong so that is good."