The setup checks on Charles Leclerc’s SF-23 Evo did not show any anomalies: the mysterious problem that penalized the Monegasque’s Ferrari in Q1 has not yet been certified, but the investigation will be resumed this morning because the Prancing Horse technicians want get to the bottom of what prevented the driver from going beyond the nineteenth performance.
The doubt is that there may have been a problem in the electricity supply of the hybrid system and it is no coincidence that the Maranello technicians are considering the precautionary replacement of the battery. Therefore, the adjustment of the tire temperature during the preparation lap has nothing to do with it: from that point of view, the Ferrari driver had no problems, while there could have been a problem with a differential sensor, distributing the torque anomalously between the two wheels.
Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
It is clear to everyone that there was something that didn’t allow Leclerc to fight for the front row just like Carlos Sainz did who put his red in second place at the conclusion of qualifying behind the elusive Max Verstappen with the Red Bull.
Charles’s car, among other things, was selected for the “Show and tell”, that is to say the moment that the FIA reserves on Sunday morning for some journalists who have the opportunity to explore technical issues with the engineers, having the access to the garage where three different single-seaters are made available to the media.
In short, Ferrari is not going straight, so there are still no precise answers as to why Charles was hit by problems yesterday: evaluations are underway to decide whether to trigger Leclerc from the pitlane of the Spanish GP, rather than from the grid at departure. The option is taken into serious consideration to take advantage of the possibility of unmarking the third battery and the fourth ECU, backing up with a penalty that would not cost Charles much considering his bad position at the start. We will move on to the third transmission of the season (in this case without penalties), perhaps to remove any doubts about that strange feeling the rider had received from the clutch.
When the parc fermé breaks down, we might as well make the most of the interventions allowed. It is not excluded that the rear wing will also be slightly unloaded to facilitate overtaking from the rear…
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