Ferrari feel mechanical issue led to Charles Leclerc throttle glitch at Spielberg circuit. Ferrari suspect mechanical problem caused late-race throttle glitch.

The throttle issue which affected Charles Leclerc’s F1-75 car in the final stages of the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix and almost led to the Monegasque losing the race at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg seems to have been mechanical rather than electronic in nature, the Maranello team feel after the initial investigation.

Formula 1 cars have used electronic fly-by-wire throttles since the nineties. Yet a physical problems seems to be responsable for Charles Leclerc’s issue on Sunday in Austria, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto explained at the end of the race:

“On the initial feedback It’s more a mechanical one we got, but I cannot give you more details than that,” he said in one of his post-race interviews after the race at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. The Monegasque driver was initially affected by the strange behaviour of the F1-75 car following the Virtual Safety Car period late in the Grand Prix which was caused by the power unit suffered by his Maranello team mate Carlos Sainz, who was forced to park his car on the side. Several team radio messages between Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari race engineer revealed that the throttle was not cutting out fully when the accelerator pedal was no longer being pressed.

As a result, the last few laps of the Austrian Grand Prix proved to be “very stressful”, Charles Leclerc admitted: “The throttle was really inconsistent and in the middle of the corner, it would get stuck to whatever percentage.” – he said.

Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection from Puma! Enter the online Puma Store and shop securely! And get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!

The issue was particularly more difficult to manage in the sharp right-hand hairpin turn three, he confirmed: “In turn three, it was very, very tricky because that’s where you don’t want any more speed in mid-corner. It was quite tricky to manage, not so much in the high speed, but mostly in the low-speed. But at the end we managed to get the car to the end, which is great.” – the Ferrari driver explained.