15 March 2023 , 17:09
1084
0
Charles Leclerc will receive a grid penalty at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend after being forced to retire from the season opener in Bahrain.
Ferrari star Leclerc, who finished runner-up to world champion Max Verstappen in 2022, had been in third at the time of his retirement but an engine problem saw his campaign get off to the worst possible start.
And team principal Frederic Vasseur has now confirmed his car had two problems with the electronics control unit, with drivers restricted to two ECUs over the course of the season.
That means Leclerc has gone over his allocation in just one race and faces a drop of at least 10 places in Jeddah.
"It is something we have never experienced in the past and I hope now it is under control. But unfortunately we will have to take the penalty in Jeddah because we only have a pool of two ECUs for the season," Vasseur said.
New Ferrari chief reacts to Mohammed ben Sulayem scandals and the FIA's F1 storm
Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz finished fourth in Bahrain but was over 48 seconds behind race winner Verstappen. And Vasseur has confirmed Ferrari will have upgrades in a bid to close the gap, starting this weekend.
He added: "Bahrain was not as good as expected, and we have to react. Everybody is working at their best to fix the issues. We have to keep the eyes open that we had issues in Bahrain in terms of reliability and we need to fix the issue of drivability.
Fred Vasseur is the latest man charged with delivering success to Ferrari (Getty Images)"We will bring improvements but first we need to get the best of what we have and we still have some room for improvement."
Vasseur was also forced to discuss his relationship with Ferrarri CEO Benedetto Vigna amid claims of a fall-out at the top of the Italian team. But the 54-year-old insisted they continue to have 'constant collaboration'.
"It is a very good set-up so far. We have always open discussions. He is supportive on every single topic and I can't complain about this," he added.