The power unit that Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc started the 2021 Italian Grand Prix weekend with is back in his SF21 car, as officially confirmed by the Maranello team in a post on social media.
Charles Leclerc has had a tricky time at Scuderia Ferrari’s home race in front of the Tifosi, as the Monegasque driver, who two years ago scored an amazing victory at Monza, has not only had power unit issues, but yesterday also felt unwell during the final practice session and the Sprint Qualifying event in the afternoon.
While the first led to Ferrari changing his power unit, re-fitting his first 2021 engine in order to avoid a grid penalty, the latter saw the Monégasque driver pay a visit to the track’s medical centre following FP2.
Despite feeling “slightly unwell” he took to the grid for the sprint qualifying where he started P8. Passing his team-mate Carlos Sainz early in the 18-lap Monza race, while also taking advantage of Pierre Gasly’s off, he brought his SF21 home in sixth place and will start today’s race from fifth place as a result of the penalty received by Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas due to a complete engine change on his car.
There is more good news for Charles Leclerc, as Scuderia Ferrari confirmed earlier today that they were able to fix his original engine and put it back in his car.
That means he’ll have a more powerful power unit at his disposal for the grand prix.
“The problem with the electronic management of the engine braking on Charles’ car that led to his PU being changed after Friday’s sessions, as a precaution, has now been fixed,” said the team statement – “Therefore the original PU has now been put back in his car for the race.”
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