Just two tenths off pole in Madrid, Charles Leclerc suspects his old power unit weighed heavily on his qualifying.
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Charles Leclerc had serious reasons to believe in pole position before the Spanish Grand Prix qualifying. Very strong during the three free practice sessions at the Madring, the Monegasque appeared as one of the main rivals to Mercedes. Yet, at the decisive moment, several of his rivals found an extra performance that the Ferrari driver failed to reproduce.
Fifth, just 195 thousandths off Lando Norris’s pole position, Leclerc does not consider that he particularly missed his last lap. He rather points to a significant technical difference: unlike several of his rivals, he had to keep an old specification of the Ferrari power unit following his violent accident at Monza.
Leclerc deprived of the latest Ferrari evolution
Ferrari had introduced its new ADUO 2 specification at Monza, but Leclerc’s accident during the Grand Prix disrupted the planned program for Madrid. The Scuderia did not have enough time to thoroughly check the unit involved in the crash and preferred to take no risks.
Leclerc therefore had to revert to the old ADUO 1 for the Spanish weekend. A potentially significant difference at a time when several competitors had, according to him, new or more recent power units.
“I think most drivers installed a new power unit, or a more recent specification, for qualifying, while I kind of had the same specification as before Monza.”
The Monegasque nevertheless acknowledges that he can only blame himself after his Italian accident.
“And it’s obviously my fault after last week. So maybe I didn’t make the step that others made on that side. That said, I think my lap was quite clean.”
Four tenths lost in the first sector
The strangest thing for Leclerc, however, concerns his first sector. Despite a final gap of less than two tenths to Norris, the Ferrari driver estimates he lost about four tenths in this single part of the circuit.
A particularly significant loss that still requires analysis. The first sector includes several sections where power plays a major role, but Leclerc doubts that his old unit alone can explain such a deficit.
“It was more the first sector on my side. I think I lost four tenths in the first sector on my fast lap, so we need to look into that.”
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Leclerc admits that his lap preparation was not perfect, which could have notably influenced the warming up of his tires. But the size of the gap continues to puzzle him.
“My out laps were not ideal, but four tenths is a lot. I really don’t know what happened. There are certainly a lot of straights in the first part of the circuit, but I doubt we lose four tenths only on those straights.”
Ferrari hopes to recover the Monza engine
The situation could however evolve as early as the next Grand Prix in Azerbaijan. The power unit used by Leclerc at Monza is currently being examined in Maranello to determine if it really suffered damage during his accident.
The first elements are encouraging and the initial diagnosis is positive. Ferrari must nevertheless continue its checks before deciding if the engine can be safely put back into service in Baku.
The stakes are far from trivial. The new ADUO 2 specification introduced by Ferrari at Monza would offer a gain of about 15 horsepower, notably thanks to an improved turbocharger. Leclerc could therefore regain a significant performance boost if the unit is declared usable.
An engine penalty remains possible
Otherwise, Ferrari could face a much more delicate choice. If Leclerc had to use an additional unit beyond his allowed allocation during the season, he would face a grid penalty.
For now, the Monegasque refuses to draw conclusions before the analyses carried out in Maranello are completed.
“For now, we don’t know yet. There are some checks we need to do. So we are not 100% sure yet.”
In Madrid, this situation inevitably leaves some regrets. Despite his old power unit and the four tenths lost in the first sector, Leclerc finished only 195 thousandths behind Norris. With the ADUO 2 and a cleaner first sector, Ferrari could reasonably have hoped to be even more involved in the fight for pole.
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