File photograph of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is set for a 10-place grid penalty in Saudi Arabia this weekend for exceeding his allocation of energy unit management electronics, crew boss Fred Vasseur stated on March 15.
The Monegasque retired from the season-opening race in Bahrain on March 5 with a lack of energy, a failure blamed on the management electronics that had already been changed on the Sunday morning.
Drivers are allowed two management models to final the whole season.
“Unfortunately, it was two times the control electronics box and it’s something that we never experienced in the past,” Vasseur informed reporters forward of Sunday’s second race of the season.
“I hope that now we have it under control. We have a deep analysis on this. Unfortunately, we’ll have to take the penalty in Jeddah because we only have a pool of two control electronics for the season.”
Leclerc completed second with quickest lap to Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen in Jeddah final yr, with Spanish crew mate Carlos Sainz third at a observe that would favour Ferrari’s straight-line pace.
Verstappen gained the season-opener in Bahrain in a Red Bull one-two with Mexican Sergio Perez and they’re favourites to win once more on Sunday.
Engine reliability was an issue for general runners-up Ferrari final yr, in addition to strategic errors and driver errors.
Vasseur has taken over from departed principal Mattia Binotto with the Italian crew already on the again foot as they chase a primary title since 2009.
The Frenchman confirmed additionally that senior engineer and aerodynamics professional David Sanchez had left the crew after a decade at Maranello, however performed down studies of extra excessive profile departures.
“We are a solid group and we are building up a team for the future also, and the link is good. So no, I don’t think that key people will leave the team,” he stated.
