Ferrari hasn’t just replaced the battery pack on Charles Leclerc’s car; the Monegasque driver, set to start from the rear of the grid due to his penalty, will also use another new component during qualifying at Yas Marina.
Ferrari’s Saturday morning continued in the same challenging vein as Friday in Abu Dhabi. After being hit with a hefty grid penalty, the team is still grappling with an SF-24 that seems out of sync with the Emirati circuit. Meanwhile, McLaren remains dominant, solidifying its status as the favorite for both the Grand Prix and the championship title.
In Maranello’s garage, the chase is on to catch up with rivals and improve the car’s performance. At the end of FP3 in Abu Dhabi, the leaderboard showed Carlos Sainz in fifth, four-tenths off leader Oscar Piastri’s pace. The situation was even worse for Charles Leclerc, stuck in ninth behind the Haas cars and six-tenths behind the benchmark set by McLaren’s #81.
New Exhaust System for Charles Leclerc: No Additional Penalty
During the final free practice session of the weekend and the season, the FIA issued another update regarding Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. According to the Federation’s technical delegate, Jo Bauer, the #16 SF-24 has been equipped with a new exhaust system starting from FP3.
This marks the seventh “EX” system for Charles Leclerc. With the regulations allowing up to eight homologated exhaust systems, Charles Leclerc will not face any additional grid penalties for this change. The Monegasque driver now faces a daunting weekend as he aims for an unlikely comeback.
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