Ferrari has announced that a temporary solution will be found to ensure Carlos Sainz races this weekend in Canada following a dreadful double DNF in Baku.
Scuderia Ferrari claim they will have a short-term repair for the problem that caused Carlos Sainz to retire from Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend.
In an unfortunate turn of events for the Scuderia, Sainz retired from fourth place on lap 8 due to a hydraulic failure, while teammate Charles Leclerc retired from first place on lap 21 with smoke streaming from the back of his F1-75. The Monégasque was in first place at the moment of his retirement, which was his second this season while leading a race.
Ferrari’s woes were made worse by the fact that two of their clients, Haas and Alfa Romeo, were also forced to withdraw from the event. The turbocharger and the MGU-H were blamed for Kevin Magnussen’s failure, but Ferrari claims Zhou Guanyu’s DNF had nothing to do with their parts.
With only a week and a lot of travel between Baku and this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, teams have been rushed to get updates to Canada, and Ferrari has hinted that a longer-term solution to Sainz’s problem will have to wait until after the Montreal race.
The Monégasque driver was in P1 at the time of his retirement, which was his second this season while leading a race.
While Ferrari is currently investigating the cause of Leclerc’s engine failure, they have stated that Sainz’s hydraulic problem has a “short-term fix” in place.
“A challenging weekend for the team, but one that we’ll look to learn and build from,” Ferrari said on Twitter.
“Charles’ engine arrives at the factory tomorrow, an initial assessment should be completed by the evening.”
“Hydraulic components from Carlos’ car have already been examined. A short-term fix is in place for Canada, while work is on-going on mid/long-term solutions.”
“We continue to be fully motivated, our ambitions are still high, our aim hasn’t changed. Those moments shape us, as individuals and as a group.”
Ferrari’s two DNFs meant they fell farther behind Red Bull in the championship standings. While Leclerc is now in third place in the Drivers’ standings, 34 points behind Max Verstappen, Ferrari is 80 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ standings.
After Australia, the team was 34 points ahead in the Drivers’ standings and 39 points ahead in the Teams’ standings.
Leclerc is set to be on his third engine of the season in Montreal, after suffering two engine problems in the previous three Grands Prix. With two-thirds of the season remaining, the Monegasque is almost set to get a grid penalty in the following races for excessive component consumption.
