Charles Leclerc has said he is considering a 10-place grid penalty for this weekend's Canadian GP, after Ferrari officially confirmed (anticipated by Autoracing here) that his UP that broke from the Azerbaijan GP is "beyond repair."
Charles Leclerc has said he is considering a 10-place grid penalty for this weekend's Canadian GP, after Ferrari officially confirmed (anticipated by Grand Prix here) that his UP that broke from the Azerbaijan GP is "beyond repair."
Leclerc's abandonment in Baku last weekend marked the second time in three races that he has abandoned the lead after a devastating engine failure in Barcelona last month, and the team has confirmed that the two incidents are related.
The failure will likely result in Leclerc having to use a fourth turbo unit for the season, which would lead to a 10-place grid penalty, dealing another blow to his world championship hopes.
"The investigation has confirmed that the UP used in Charles' Baku is beyond repair," said a statement from Ferrari.
"A possible cause of the failure is that it occurred as a consequence of the problem in Spain."
"We are now working on countermeasures to strengthen the package and the situation is under control."
A strong start to the season that saw Leclerc win two of the first three races helped him open up a 46-point lead over Verstappen, but his difficulties on Sunday since then - despite taking pole in each of the last four races - have allowed a turnaround for the Dutchman, who now has a 34-point lead over the Monegasque.
Speaking at the press conference on Friday shortly after Ferrari's announcement, Leclerc confirmed that the fact that Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has many overtaking opportunities led the team to consider punting for the new unit this weekend.
"Obviously, we are not in the best possible situation," Leclerc said.
"For the changes at UP, I think there are still discussions going on, we will try to delay the decision as much as possible."
"For now, no decision has been made. But it's not the best situation for me."
"It's up to us to choose the best track where you want to take a punishment - if you take a punishment."
"And this is one of the tracks where there are no problems for overtaking."
"But there are also some tracks in the next three or four races where it's easy to overtake as well."
"We will discuss and try to make the best decision from there."
The internal combustion engine will be changed, but this change does not carry punishment yet, although it is the last one allowed for Leclerc this year. What Ferrari is deciding now is whether to swap the turbo for a new one, or risk using the first turbo of the season, which did not break.