Leclerc was forced to withdraw from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last Sunday while leading the race after a failure in his engine which Ferrari has since confirmed had left him “out of repair”.
It was the last setback for Leclerc in a difficult period that also saw him retire when he led Spain due to a problem with his power unit, which caused Ferrari to face possible sanctions on the network.
Ahead of Friday’s practice for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, the FIA confirmed that Ferrari had picked up a new engine, MGU-H, MGU-K and control electronics, all within its seasonal assignment.
But after the conclusion of FP2, a second FIA document confirmed that Leclerc had taken another new control electronics, the third of the year.
As this exceeds the limit of the season of two control electronics, it has caused a drop of 10 positions on the grid that Leclerc will assume on Sunday.
The main concern before the weekend was the Leclerc turbocharger after the new one introduced in Azerbaijan was erased due to the failure of the power unit. However, he still has one usable within his season group, which meant that no change had been required so far.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Speaking this morning, Leclerc acknowledged that “it was not the best position to be” in front of the penalties so early in the season.
“This is one of the tracks where it’s pretty easy to overtake, but there are also tracks in the next three or four races where it’s also pretty easy to overtake,” Leclerc said.
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Although Max Verstappen led both FP1 and FP2 for Red Bull on Friday in Montreal, Leclerc reached the end of the day the second fastest, just 0.081 seconds from the best time of the afternoon.
Although it will currently only go down 10 places, Ferrari could try to take advantage of the setback and introduce other new parts to the pool if it feels worth starting at the back of the grid.
AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda has already confirmed that he will start the race from the back of the field after the team took on a completely new power unit for the weekend.