Leclerc to take penalty soon as Ferrari confirm Baku engine cannot be repaired

2022 Canadian Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by and

Charles Leclerc is preparing to take a grid penalty in one of the coming races after Ferrari confirmed the power unit which failed in his car during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix cannot be repaired.

Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free

The Ferrari driver suffered a failure while leading in Baku on Sunday. He has already used the maximum number of turbochargers permitted during a season, and will receive an automatic 10-place grid penalty if he takes another.

“Obviously we’re not in the best situation possible,” Leclerc admitted. “Then for the power unit change I think there are still ongoing discussions, we’ll try and push as much as possible the decision.

“For now, no decisions are taken. But it’s not the best situation to be in.”

Amid speculation he could take the penalty this weekend, Leclerc said coming races at Silverstone or the Red Bull Ring could also offer good opportunities to take a penalty for a power unit change.

“This is part of our discussions. It’s up to us to choose the best track where to get a penalty, if you get a penalty.

“This is one of the tracks where it’s actually quite easy to overtake but there are also some other tracks in the next three or four races, where it’s easier to overtake too. So we’ll discuss and try and take the best decision from there.”

Ferrari believe Leclerc’s race-ending failure last week may have occurred as a consequence of the earlier fault which put him out of the Spanish Grand Prix, also while he was leading.

“We are now working on countermeasures to strengthen the package and the situation is under control,” a spokesperson for the team added.

Ferrari and Red Bull broke the curfew on working hours in the paddock on Wednesday night at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. It is the first time this year Ferrari have broken this curfew, one of several which are imposed over the course of a race weekend, and the second time for Red Bull. Teams are allowed to break the curfew a total of eight times during the season before incurring a penalty.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Power unit components used prior to the Canadian Grand Prix

N°CarEngineDriverICETCMGU-HMGU-KESCEEX
63MercedesMercedesGeorge Russell2222113
44MercedesMercedesLewis Hamilton2222113
1Red BullRed BullMax Verstappen2222113
11Red BullRed BullSergio Perez2222114
16FerrariFerrariCharles Leclerc2322114
55FerrariFerrariCarlos Sainz Jnr2222124
3McLarenMercedesDaniel Ricciardo2222112
4McLarenMercedesLando Norris2222112
14AlpineRenaultFernando Alonso4444334
31AlpineRenaultEsteban Ocon2222222
10AlphaTauriRed BullPierre Gasly3333225
22AlphaTauriRed BullYuki Tsunoda3333114
18Aston MartinMercedesLance Stroll2222212
5Aston MartinMercedesSebastian Vettel2223222
23WilliamsMercedesAlexander Albon2222222
6WilliamsMercedesNicholas Latifi2222212
77Alfa RomeoFerrariValtteri Bottas3332124
24Alfa RomeoFerrariZhou Guanyu2222113
20HaasFerrariKevin Magnussen2223223
47HaasFerrariMick Schumacher2322224

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2022 Canadian Grand Prix

Browse all 2022 Canadian Grand Prix articles

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...
Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

6 comments on “Leclerc to take penalty soon as Ferrari confirm Baku engine cannot be repaired”

  1. Profile Photo

    ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
    17th June 2022, 17:19

    I believe Binotto was prepared to had at least one ICE penalty from the start. Is this about taking more than once?

  2. Profile Photo

    Jere (@jerejj)
    17th June 2022, 17:21

    Thus far, he’s only at penalty risk for TC, but he could also exceed his engine, MGU-H, MGU-K, ES, & CE further into the season.

  3. Profile Photo

    Cobray (@)
    17th June 2022, 17:48

    There is a rumor that they will take a turbo penalty here but I hope they can tough it out until the sprint race in Austria. The common denominator of their failures is heat and temps are expected relatively decent this weekend.

    Otherwise, it’s gonna be another blow for the championship and they need to try closing that huge gap asap.

    1. Profile Photo

      Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
      17th June 2022, 18:57

      @cobray

      The common denominator of their failures is heat and temps are expected relatively decent this weekend.

      According to the rumours coming from Italy it’s the high fuel consumption of both tracks Catalunya and Baku 110 kg and 109 kg respectively that have caused the Ferrari PU to fail. Ferrari are using a 3 way ignition system. A pre-ignition, a proper ignition and a post ignition phase to cool the cylinder that have been reduced in order to save fuel which caused the poppet valves to overheat and fail. Have a look at this fantastic animation made by Chrono GP to analyse the Ferrari PU failure :
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8H9fxtU25g

      1. Profile Photo

        Cobray (@)
        17th June 2022, 20:08

        @tifoso1989 Thank you very much for this mate!

        1. Profile Photo

          Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
          17th June 2022, 20:10

          @cobray
          You’re more than welcome !

Comments are closed.