Charles Leclerc retires in his Ferrari SF-23. It happens in Brazil, Interlagos, during the so-called formation lap, following a slide that sends car number 16 into the barriers. After a promising qualifying where he secured the front row, frustration quickly turned into despair over the missed opportunity. Charles Leclerc is thus forced to abandon his car and watch the Grand Prix from the garage.
The Prancing Horse has kept a tight lid on the matter, preventing the Monegasque driver from revealing the true causes of the technical mishap that sidelined the red car. This specific approach is “directed” by Frederic Vasseur, who has denied the media and fans the truth of what happened. This is a scenario seen in the recent past when the Mattia Binotto management was accustomed to obfuscating issues with various word games.
While it’s hard to accept such an outcome, many fail to understand the need to conceal facts. On the contrary, some argue that doing so is a more or less effective method to prevent certain issues from surfacing that would tarnish the team’s image, somehow ridiculing the hypothetical workgroup responsible for an avoidable mistake due to negligence.
Whatever the case may be, the fact remains that certain scenarios shouldn’t happen. Yet, year after year, this situation continues to recur undisturbed, and putting an end to it seems almost impossible. In this discussion, we attempt to shed light on the subject, with the understanding that our reasoning isn’t intended to be definitive.
Brazil GP 2023/Ferrari SF-23: Possible “Failures” of Charles Leclerc’s Car
Before making any statement, Charles Leclerc asked his press officer for the words he can use to comment on the incident. This is where curiosity arises to understand what actually happened. Several hypotheses have been proposed. From a hydraulic failure, through an electronic glitch to considering the most tragic and pessimistic idea: a broken internal combustion engine. So, by examining the aforementioned possibilities, let’s try to determine which one is the most likely.
Hydraulic failure: In an F1 car, hydraulics control various systems mainly related to the inputs the driver provides to the car: throttle, DRS, gearbox, brake-by-wire system, and power steering, all activated through conduits with pressurized fluid flow. The advantages of using such controls include their long-term reliability, great installation flexibility, and low inertia they provide.
This translates into a high frequency response that is useful for the functions of a top-tier motorsport car, which must be carried out in milliseconds. The main drawback is that a failure of a single component can lead to the collapse of the entire system. In the case of the Monegasque driver, what could make “hydraulic failure” a plausible explanation is the loss of systems like power steering.
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From the onboard camera, it is clear how suddenly Charles “turns” the steering wheel in the opposite direction instead of following the curve, as if the steering wheel had become extremely difficult to turn. Furthermore, the lock-up at the rear due to the jammed gearbox and the resulting spin are further evidence supporting the hypothesis of a hydraulic failure, as the transmission is part of the components controlled by hydraulics, as mentioned earlier.
However, given the suddenness with which the symptoms manifested on the Ferrari SF-23, we can almost certainly rule out this type of failure. Typically, hydraulic leaks result in a drop in system pressure, and given the numerous sensors on the car, such a situation would have been promptly reported to the driver and engineers.
Internal combustion engine malfunction: If we consider the option of a breakdown of the internal combustion engine, we can immediately argue a point. Usually, so-called “engine failures” are characterized by a thick cloud of smoke, often accompanied by an unmistakable oil leak. If power unit 066/10 had given up the ghost, Charles’s exit would undoubtedly have been more spectacular.
Furthermore, listening to the radio communications and closely observing the Ferrari steering wheel’s dashboard, there were no messages indicating such an event. Therefore, in the absence of clear evidence, we currently rule out this assumption, even though the complexity of the current power units has sometimes masked such problems.
Electrical issue: The last hypothesis we consider revolves around a possible problem arising from electronics, specifically from the control unit. Without a doubt, this component is considered “the brain” of the car. The central control unit is responsible for translating all the inputs provided to the car by the driver through mechanical controls (pedals, buttons, paddles, switches, etc.) into electrical signals, processed by the central control unit, and then executed through electronically controlled actuators, jacks, or servo valves.
A momentary glitch in the electronic control unit would explain the instantaneous gearbox lock-up and the resulting loss of power steering. In other words, this is a “safety mode” of the hydraulic system, activated following a malfunction that would have blocked all systems controlled by it, leading to Charles’s unfortunate exit in turn 6. This last assumption can be further supported by the recurrence of what represents a control unit failure: at the opening race of the 2023 Formula 1 season, Charles Leclerc retired due to a faulty wiring harness of the same.
To address the issue, Ferrari had decided to swap the control unit for the Jeddah race in Saudi Arabia, exhausting the maximum number of units allowed for the season. Therefore, it is more than plausible that, after sustaining 19 race weekends, that unit reached the end of its operational cycle. This would be a significant setback for the Scuderia because replacing the component would result in a grid penalty for the next race, which, ironically, is Las Vegas, where Ferrari has high expectations.
Assuming the matter is discovered only at Maranello these days and that, in all likelihood, the causes will remain secret for now, it remains to be seen whether the Italian team will decide to issue a statement explaining the incident in detail or, perhaps more likely, try to “bury” the issue in some way by diverting attention to the race weekend.
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