Ferrari replaces the control unit – Corriere.it

the second GP of the season, in Jeddah this weekend. And Ferrari is already forced to catch up, even with the weight of the handicap. In fact, Charles Leclerc will have to serve a penalty of ten places on the grid for replacing the ECU, regardless of the result of Saturday’s qualifying.

The confirmation comes directly from team principal Fred Vasseur: Unfortunately he will have to take the penalty, for something that has never happened before. The analyzes carried out in Maranello revealed the impossibility of using the two components assembled during the weekend of the inaugural GP in Bahrain: the first control unit had been disassembled as a precaution shortly before the race (together with the battery pack) due to an anomaly in the parameters . The second race was lost on lap 39, causing the engine of car number 16 to stop. However, the power unit was not damaged. The regulation allows the use of only two electronic units for the entire championship, 23 GPs, Leclerc’s Ferrari already in its third: We had two distinct episodes and both concerned the control unit – said Vasseur -, I hope that now it is finally under check. We have done a thorough analysis of the problems that led to the failure. The team principal also explained that the failure will not force you to lower the engine power. And this is positive because Jeddah is a high-speed circuit where overtaking is possible and where the entry of a safety car, to shuffle the cards, is taken for granted. But this is little consolation for a team called to react after the difficulties of starting the World Cup in Bahrain.

It will be up to Carlos Sainz to try to stop the Red Bulls in qualifying with a pole lap, the track on the Red Sea should suit the SF-23 much better than Sakhir’s. Vasseur revealed that technical updates will be brought to Arabia: And we will also bring them to Australia, we have to take a step forward to catch up with Red Bull. He then armored Laurent Mekies, the number two of the team who had looked around, like many others, and had negotiated a move to Formula 1, in Stefano Domenicali’s structure: I’ve known him since he was at school, he will be one of the pillars of the Ferrari of the future. As for relations with CEO Benedetto Vigna, Vasseur replies as follows: I have a transparent relationship, I am not complaining about anything: we have a continuous dialogue and I feel supported.