Scuderia Ferrari will have to postpone their short-term plans to bring a major ERS upgrade to the F1-75 car, and will instead focus on carrying out the necessary investigations and work on improving the reliability of the car, according to recent reports in the Italian media.
After starting from pole position, Charles Leclerc lost the lead at the first corner but regained P1 thanks to a smart stop by the Maranello team under a Virtual Safety Car to get back ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit. Yet due to a power unit failure, the Monegasque driver once again had to retire while in the lead, just like was the case two races ago at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. Things didn’t go any better for his Maranello teammate Carlos Sainz, who suffered a terminal hydraulic problem which meant the Maranello team was not able to score any points in Azerbaijan.
The ones who took advantage of Ferrari’s unfortunate outcome were of course the Red Bull cars of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, who secured another easy one-two finish to earn a solid advantage for the Austrian outfit in front of the Formula 1 Constructor Standings, ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend.
After a strong start of the season for Scuderia Ferrari, the championship has swung since Red Bull introduced their first major upgrade package in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Imola circuit, while the Italian side has been hit with several reliability problems, despite the fact that both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz had already received new engines this season, while Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez only used their second power unit last weekend in Azerbaijan.
Both events at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona and at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan took place in very high temperatures, which most likely contributed to the engine problems, after the first four GPs of the 2022 Formula One season saw relatively mild temperatures for the drivers and F1-75 cars to deal with.
The Italian side now has to figure out whether the problems the team’s power unit have been experiencing in the last few weeks have been lying dormant since the start of the season, or whether the second engines, which Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have been using for the last few races have a fundamental issue.
It is worth pointing out that the upgraded power units were changed for reliability reasons – the only way that engines can be altered due to the current engine freeze.
In 2022, the teams can no longer aford to spend a lot of money on freight due to the budget cap restrictions, so Ferrari would likely prefer to get everything straight to Montreal, but a stop-off at Maranello on Monday to diagnose the issues may be needed. It is a long trip to Canada from Azerbaijan though so logistically, it is very difficult to get the power unit back to the home factory, conclude a full investigation of the problems and have the engines ready for the Canadian weekend. In any case, the Maranello team later confirmed that Charles Leclerc’s power unit has been damaged beyond repair, which means a new engine will be needed for the next race.
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!
There were reports that Scuderia Ferrari was planning to introduce a major an electrical upgrade most likely at the British Grand Prix in July, but according to Formu1a.uno, the recent events has led to a change of plans, as the Maranello team will now focus is improving the car reliability.
Formula 1 allows for electrical updates to be made until the beginning of September when those parts will also be frozen, but the same rule applies in that changes for reliability reasons are possible.
Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, Sergio Perez has now passed Charles Leclerc for second place in the Drivers’ standings, and Red Bull lead the Scuderia by 80 points in the 2022 constructors’ duel.
Leave a Reply