Charles Leclerc news: Power unit issues behind tricky Silverstone practice

Leclerc, Ferrari, Canada, 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

British Grand Prix

Leclerc reveals power unit issues behind tricky British Grand Prix practice

Leclerc was fifth fastest on Friday behind team-mate Carlos Sainz

Sam Hall

Friday 1 July 2022 22:40

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Charles Leclerc has revealed that power unit issues hindered his progress ahead of the British Grand Prix after finishing only fifth-fastest on Friday.

After completing minimal running in a wet opening practice session, Leclerc struggled compared to his pace-setting team-mate Carlos Sainz in FP2, finishing 0.462secs off of the Spanish driver.

"A tricky day," assessed Leclerc. "The first session, we didn't get much data from it just because of the weather and very few laps.

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"In FP2, we had quite a few problems on my side, so hopefully tomorrow we can have a bit of a cleaner day and have things going our way."

Asked to elaborate on the nature of these problems, Leclerc added: "I don't know if there were the radio messages on the coverage but overall, just some power unit things that were making it very difficult to drive.

"But it is fine, it is set ups more than problems so we will modify it for tomorrow."

Leclerc positive despite struggles

Unlike the other front runners, Leclerc's fastest time was set on the medium tyre with the Monégasque unable to unlock additional pace from the soft compound.

"With the softs, it was again very tricky," continued the Ferrari driver, who goes into the race 49 points behind title-leading Max Verstappen in his Red Bull.

"For some reason, it didn't feel as good as on the medium and again, we had those small issues that weren't easy to manage.

"But overall, I think the performance is in the car so this is positive."