Charles Leclerc betrayed by his turbo and his MGU-H

He was comfortably ahead and heading towards a likely new victory. But the reliability of his Ferrari decided otherwise. During the 27th lap of the Spanish Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc was forced to retire after a mechanical issue with his car.

If the Italian team had not yet determined the reason for the withdrawal of the Monegasque from the race, Ferrari now knows the cause. After examining Leclerc’s car’s power unit, we found that the turbo and MGU-H are damaged and cannot be repaired, indicates a statement from the prancing horse brand.

However, after fully analyzing the breakdown and its cause, we are convinced that it is not due to a design flaw or a reliability problem of these two components or any other element.

The statement adds that the cause of the damage could come from external elements or specific usage conditions.

Since these elements are unusable for the rest of the season, Charles Leclerc will have to make do with new parts or old ones that he used at the beginning of the season.

This retirement comes at the worst possible time for the Monegasque driver who had built a comfortable lead at the beginning of the championship due to Max Verstappen’s reliability issues. Indeed, he has just handed the lead over to his rival for the first time this season and now trails by six points (104 versus 110).