Ferrari must decide when Charles Leclerc will need to take a power-unit penalty, with Fred Vasseur indicating after the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid that Baku could enter the discussion. The Ferrari team principal stopped short of explicitly confirming the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as the chosen race, but acknowledged that a penalty will have to be taken at some point.
Ferrari left Madring with Charles Leclerc in fourth place and Lewis Hamilton out of the race after an early brake-system problem on his SF-26. Vasseur reviewed both situations after the Grand Prix, praising Leclerc’s tyre management while also explaining why the team ordered Hamilton to stop immediately once his braking issue returned.
Charles Leclerc delivers strong Madrid race despite missing podium
Lewis Hamilton’s Spanish Grand Prix began with an excellent start. The British driver briefly came close to taking a position at the front, although there was not enough room through Turn 1 for the move to be completed normally.
After only a few laps, however, Hamilton began experiencing a problem that ultimately prevented him from finishing the race. Braking demands had already been identified as an important factor at Madring, with the circuit presenting significant braking challenges throughout the Madrid weekend.
Charles Leclerc’s race, meanwhile, effectively took shape around the Virtual Safety Car triggered by Lance Stroll’s stoppage. Ferrari decided not to pit the Monegasque, who remained at the front until fewer than 10 laps from the finish and demonstrated excellent tyre management throughout his extended stint.
A red flag, another Virtual Safety Car or a Safety Car represented Ferrari’s only realistic opportunity to turn that strategy into a victory or podium finish. None arrived, leaving Charles Leclerc to settle for fourth place.
Fred Vasseur praises Charles Leclerc’s tyre management
Asked about Charles Leclerc’s race and whether Ferrari had come close to victory, Fred Vasseur admitted that events had not fallen in the team’s favour.
“There is no doubt that luck was not on our side. Knowing that the entire grid would start alternating between the soft and hard tyres, we followed the same approach. Charles Leclerc produced an excellent stint on the hard compound,” Fred Vasseur said.
The Ferrari team principal explained that the expectation of another race interruption had played an important role in the Scuderia’s thinking.
“We expected one or two Safety Cars during the race, a scenario shared by all the teams, but events unfolded differently. With a second neutralisation we could have realistically fought for the win, but instead we had to settle for fourth place.”
Fred Vasseur also praised the execution of Charles Leclerc’s race, arguing that the Ferrari driver extracted everything available from the strategy: “Charles maintained exactly the pace requested by the garage to optimise our race strategies. He did an extremely solid job without making the slightest mistake, pushing hard all the way to the finish and extracting the maximum possible.”
Ferrari assessing when Charles Leclerc should take engine penalty
Charles Leclerc raced in Madrid with the ADUO1 power unit after the updated engine used around the Monza weekend was affected by his accident. Ferrari’s management of its available power-unit pool has therefore become another important factor as the season continues. The situation surrounding the newer specification had already been examined after Monza, including Ferrari’s decision not to use Charles Leclerc’s ADUO2 unit in Madrid.
Asked about the possibility of Charles Leclerc receiving a penalty at Baku, Fred Vasseur confirmed that Ferrari will eventually have to decide when to accept the consequences of introducing another engine: “We will have to assess when it will be necessary to take an engine penalty with Charles. But I think Baku suits us rather well,” Fred Vasseur said.
The Frenchman then added ironically: “I said that we would have to take a penalty at some point.”
His comments make clear that a penalty is part of Ferrari’s planning, although they do not amount to definitive confirmation that it will be taken specifically at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton retired after repeated Ferrari brake-system problem
Fred Vasseur also addressed the problem that forced Lewis Hamilton out of the Madrid race. Ferrari had not yet established the precise cause immediately after the Grand Prix, but the issue affected the braking system and appeared twice in quick succession.
“Regarding Lewis, we don’t yet have the precise details about the brake-system failure. The problem appeared once and then immediately a second time, which is why we ordered him to stop the car straight away. On a circuit with these characteristics and the barriers so close, it would have been too dangerous to continue,” Fred Vasseur explained.
Hamilton’s retirement adds another entry to Ferrari’s season-long reliability picture, which can be tracked through the F1 Reliability & DNF Statistics.
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