Formula 1: Charles Leclerc receives a 10-place penalty before the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia


Europe 1 with AFP

By installing a third electronic box on his single-seater, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) will receive a ten-place penalty at the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this Sunday. A new blow for the F1 driver who is already behind his competitor Max Verstappen.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will be penalized ten places on Sunday at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after an electronic component was replaced during the Bahrain GP, ​​the Formula 1 team and organizers announced on Wednesday. The Scuderia had to replace this electronic component for the first time before the first GP of the season, and a second time before the scheduled race on the Jeddah circuit, while the regulations only allow one replacement per season for the same component. , at the risk of a downgrade of ten places, said Formula One.

Sunday in Bahrain “we had two different problems” one before and the other during the race, explained to journalists the head of the Ferrari team, Frédéric Vasseur. “Unfortunately every time it was the control unit, the ECU,” he added. “We have never experienced this kind of thing, I hope it is now under control but we have made a deep analysis of this incident”, underlined the French engineer.

“He remains motivated”

“Unfortunately we have to take the penalty in Jeddah because we only have two control units for the season,” he said. This mechanical problem forced the young Monegasque driver to retire in the last third of the race when Ferrari was expected this season as the main rival of Red Bull. Leclerc is already 25 points behind Max Verstappen but, according to Frédéric Vasseur, “it is obvious that he remains motivated, we have only competed in one race out of the 23” on the calendar.



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