LONG ROAD AHEAD
Engine problem leaves Leclerc facing penalty
CHARLES LECLERC anticipates more trouble ahead at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Leclerc saw title rival Max Verstappen win last Sunday in Baku, where his Ferrari retired in a plume of smoke when leading the race.
The Frenchman has started from pole position for the last four races but failed to convert any of them into a victory.
A combination of poor tyre strategy from his team in Monaco – where a certain win was thrown away and ended in a fourth-placed defeat – along with an unreliable car has seen Leclerc’s title challenge falter.
A comfortable 28-point lead over Verstappen after four races has now become a 34-point deficit. Leclerc said: “We were in the lead of the race, I was managing the tyres well, we just had to manage the tyres and the race till the end. “We were definitely in the best position possible to do that. Another DNF – it hurts.
“We really need to look into that for it to not happen again. It is just a huge disappointment.”
But more problems could be lurking in Montreal this weekend. As part of new price-capping regulations brought in this year, each car is only permitted a certain number of engine parts throughout the season.
And the team yesterday admitted that the engine that also caused Leclerc to retire when leading the Spanish GP last month “was beyond repair”.
Replacing the power unit could result in Ferrari choosing to take up a 10-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race – and with that potentially more points lost to Red Bull’s Verstappen. Leclerc added: “For now, no decisions have been taken but it is not the best situation to be in.”
Mercedes has brought a package of upgrades, including a stiffer floor, which they hope will reduce the bouncing that is costing Hamilton and team-mate George Russell more than a second a lap.
FIA announced it will introduce measures to prevent ‘porpoising’ in the interests of driver safety.
Russell says changes are “more of a sticking plaster than the solution” while fellow Brit Hamilton, who underwent acupuncture and cryotherapy to ensure he was fit enough to drive here, said: “I can definitely feel that I’m a little bit shorter this week and my discs are definitely not in the best shape right now and that is not good for longevity.
“It is positive that the FIA are working towards improving it because we have this car for the next few years.
“I don’t think it is going to change much in performance, but I might be wrong.
Who knows?
We’ll see.”