Charles Leclerc believes that being without Ferrari's latest ADUO 2 power unit specification was a key factor in him slipping down the order in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. The Monegasque had looked to be Mercedes' main rival in the fight for pole position in Madrid after showing strong form throughout all three practice sessions.
But, after ending up fifth on the grid, Leclerc reckoned that the performance patterns of the top teams shifted because rivals were able to step up thanks to fresher engines for qualifying. He instead effectively stood still because he has been forced to revert to Ferrari's old ADUO 1 power unit version for this weekend as a consequence of his hefty crash in last weekend's Italian Grand Prix.
Ferrari did not feel comfortable enough to commit to run the ADUO 2 version immediately after Monza without time for thorough checks for damage, so instead moved him to an older spec. “I think most of the people put a new power unit, or a newer spec, for today and I kind of had the same spec,” Leclerc explained after qualifying. “And that's on me obviously for last week. So maybe I didn't do the step forward that the others did on that side. Having said that, I think the lap was quite clean.”
Leclerc reckoned that there was nothing particularly wrong with his lap, as he missed out on the top spot by 0.195 seconds, but said a poor first sector was his downfall. “It was more the first sector on my side,” he said. “I lost I think four tenths in sector one on my fast lap, so we've got to look at that. My outlaps were not ideal but four tenths is a lot. So, I don't really know what went on there. Surely there are many straights but I doubt that we are losing four tenths in the straights.”
Ferrari is conducting further checks on Leclerc's crashed Monza engine at Maranello to get a better picture on whether there is any risk in bringing it back into action. While sources suggest that early prognosis is positive, a final green light will only come before the next race in Azerbaijan. Until then, Leclerc says he cannot be sure if there is a danger of needing to take a further fresh power unit later in the year which would trigger grid penalties.
“For now, we don't know yet,” he said. “There are some checks that we have to do. So yeah not 100% sure yet.” Ferrari's ADUO 2 power unit is understood to revolve around an improved turbo to help boost power. Meanwhile, Ferrari's performance in Madrid will heavily depend on how quickly they can adapt to the limitations of the older engine spec, especially against rivals who continue to develop their technical packages.
Baca Juga
Lando Norris raih pole position di Grand Prix Spanyol Madring. Analisis kemenangan tipis, performa ban Soft, dan persaingan ketat dengan Antonelli dan Hamilton.
Charles Leclerc menyalahkan mesin lama Ferrari sebagai penyebab turunnya performa di kualifikasi Grand Prix Spanyol. Simak analisis lengkapnya.
Jan Przyrowski raih kemenangan perdana FREC di Hockenheim setelah rival juara Wheldon dan Olivieri tabrakan di tikungan pertama. Simak berita lengkapnya!
Lanjutkan dengan Google
Diskusi & Komentar (0)
Mari Bergabung dalam Diskusi!
Masuk dengan mudah untuk mulai memberikan komentar, membalas, dan berinteraksi dengan pembaca lainnya.
Komentar Terbaru
Belum ada komentar. Jadilah yang pertama!