Ferrari had to turn down engine power in Mexico City to protect turbochargers – report. Ferrari had to turn down engine power in Mexico City.

Normally Ferrari is a force on Saturday. No team has collected more pole positions this year than the Maranello team. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz put the red cars on the best grid position twelve times in 20 races. However, in Mexico it was only enough for places five and seven.

Carlos Sainz was 0.576 seconds short of Max Verstappen’s best time, while his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc two tenths more. It was also no consolation that the Spaniard would have ended up one place higher with an ideal time of 1:18.079 minutes.

Usually the engine is the showpiece of the Ferrari F1-75. Everyone in the paddock agrees that the Ferrari power unit can generate the greatest power. Not at 2,238 meters above sea level. Then the engine becomes a problem. And also to protect the turbochargers, the Ferrari had to turn down the power.

Less power, less downforce
This suggests that Ferrari operates with smaller turbines than the rest. But the Maranello team can live with the weakness: there are only three tracks on the calendar that push the turbochargers harder in thin air – and none quite as extreme as Mexico City. It is more important to shine on the other 19 tracks.

The numbers underline Ferrari’s handicap. In terms of top speed, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were 12th and 16th, despite smaller wings. And they lost up to half a second in the first sector, which is mostly straight.

As is tradition, Ferrari never talks openly about the engine. One does not damage a sanctuary. After all, Charles Leclerc said: “I lost a lot of time on the straights. The drivability wasn’t good either. Somehow the feeling for the accelerator pedal didn’t fit.”

Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also 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!

This situation with the power started a vicious circle. Carlos Sainz hinted at it between the lines. “We know why we are slow and what compromises we have to make, but in the end it was more difficult than expected.”

In order not to lose even more on the straights, Ferrari reduced the downforce. This is automatically a handicap on a track that allows maximum contact pressure and is the reason why the F1-75 slides around and overheats the tyres at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. The drivers complained about understeer in the slow corners and oversteer in the fast sections. In the race it will be important for Ferrari to bring both cars to the finish line. At the moment Ferrari still has a cushion of 53 points on Mercedes. But the opponent in the battle for second place in the Constructors standings has its cars on second and third place on the grid and seems looks much stronger on this track.