Ferrari to run Charles Leclerc engine in China after detailed investigations in Maranello. Charles was able to bring the car back without further damage.

The confirmation regarding Ferrari’s technical issue in Bahrain arrived today from the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport: the power unit of Charles Leclerc’s SF90 car did not suffer such damage as to require the precautionary use of the second engine for the next round of the 2019 Formula One season.

The engine used in Sakhir will be able to return to action in the free practice sessions for the Chinese Grand Prix and only after using it on the Shanghai track will it be clear if Ferrari is satisfied and confident to use it for the race.

After the careful analysis in Maranello which has highlighted a problem with the cylinder 4 injector (this is a replaceable component that is not part of the limited engine parts), the engineers directed by Corrado Iotti have decided that the 6-cylinder from Bahrain can return to the track in Shanghai: since the 2019 season must be tackled only with three engines, having to switch to unit 2 already in the third race would be a big problem, given that each engine must last at least 7 races in order to avoid grid penalties.

For the young Monegasque theis is good news, because it soothes, at least in part, the disappointment for having seen the first victory of his career in F1 go up in smoke. Charles was able to bring home a precious third place that took him to fourth overall in the standings, just one point behind Max Verstappen, having four points ahead of his teammate, Sebastian Vettel. But most importantly, Charles was able to bring the car back without further damage to the engine, thanks also to the indications received from the Maranello team’s wall by radio.

Removing the emotional part that strongly conditioned the Bahrain Grand Prix, the result of the young Charles Leclerc in Sakhir is less negative than it seemed on Sunday: the Monegasque has scored the first podium of the career with heavy points and the mechanical problem that deprived him of the win will most likely not have any repercussions on the rest of the season. The Maranello team’s technicians, however, are investigating the causes which led to the problem because there is no doubt that the engine suffers from reliability issues which have already appeared in the Barcelona winter tests.