Scuderia Ferrari have concluded their investigation into what caused Charles Leclerc’s retirement from the Spanish Grand Prix, with issues with the turbo and MGU-H being blamed.
Leclerc was comfortably leading Sunday’s race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the Monegasque racer looking odds-on to win for the third time in 2022 and extend his advantage at the top of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship Drivers’ standings.
However, it was not to be, and Leclerc was forced to slow on lap twenty-seven and return to the pits to retire, and he then watched on as Max Verstappen took his fourth win of the year to overtake him at the top of the standings.
Ferrari also slide behind Oracle Red Bull Racing as a result of Verstappen’s win and Sergio Pérez finishing second, with Carlos Sainz Jr. the only scorer for the Maranello-based team in fourth.
The team sent the power unit back to their factory straight after the race to identify the cause of the problems, with two components of it being deemed responsible for Leclerc’s retirement. And even more disappointing for the former championship leader, neither the turbo, nor the MGU-H will be able to be used again, meaning grid penalties are likely later in the season.
“Having examined the PU from Leclerc’s car, we found the turbo and MGU-H are damaged and cannot be repaired,” said a statement from Ferrari.
“However, having fully analysed the failure and its cause, we are satisfied it did not occur through a design fault or reliability issue with these two components or any other elements of the PU.”
Leclerc will be hoping his bad luck is out of the way as he heads to his home Grand Prix in Monaco this weekend, an event he has yet to finish in his Formula 1 career.
