Ferrari plays it safe: third power unit installed on Charles Leclerc's SF-24 car at Imola

Ferrari plays it safe: third power unit installed on Charles Leclerc’s SF-24 car at Imola. Ferrari to replace several components of the Power Unit in Charles Leclerc's SF24.

Ferrari has decided to replace several components of the Power Unit in Charles Leclerc’s SF24 for the Imola weekend in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The Imola weekend started on a positive note for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc setting the fastest time in the first practice session, followed by George Russell and Carlos Sainz, both trailing by a tenth on the same tires.

It is still too early to determine if the substantial updates introduced to the SF24 have already yielded significant improvements, although the Maranello car immediately appeared competitive and easy to drive both on a single lap and race pace, with excellent tire degradation.

Aware of the importance of the first home weekend, Ferrari also decided to replace several components of the Power Unit in Charles Leclerc’s SF24 before the start of the first free practice session, even though the team had already worked on the engine at the previous race in Miami.

Specifically, Charles Leclerc has installed the third internal combustion engine and electric motor, and the third turbocharger. The same applies to the MGU-H and MGU-K. Finally, the Maranello technicians also installed a fourth exhaust system.

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As confirmed by Italian journalist Mara Sangiorgio live during practice, “the change to the second unit was made just at the last race. There was a small alert inside the Ferrari garage at the end of the race in Miami, which was checked upon returning to Maranello. Given the importance of the weekend, but especially the fact that this car needed to be thoroughly tested due to the amount of updates, they wanted to rule out any type of problem. Considering the upgrade to be verified, they decided to replace the engine and install unit number 3. Unit number 2 will obviously be back in the car soon, maybe not in Monaco, where even the first unit might be used.” – the Italian journalist concluded.