Multiple retirements, failed strategy, questionable reliability and now penalty: after a dominating start, Ferrari is left behind by Red Bull a third of the F1 season and things do not seem to be getting better since, on Sunday, Charles Leclerc will leave with a handicap ten places in Canada.
As a result of the new break in Baku, the power unit deemed "irreparable" by the Scuderia has undergone significant changes.
Too many changes to tell the truth: the engine control electronics, changed a third time already since the beginning of the season, against two parts authorized for the whole year, puts Ferrari in violation.
Penalized, Leclerc will therefore start 11th (at best) on Sunday.
For the pole, Verstappen, who did not need that, will fight with his teammate Sergio Pérez and the other Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, who is not very comfortable at the start of the season.
Not in the best possible situation
For Leclerc, the penalty could increase further if the turbo of his car had to be changed in turn (it would then be the fourth, one too many) and it will be sooner or later.
If not in Montreal, it will be for one of the next European races, causing a new penalty.
After Baku, however, Scuderia boss Mattia Binotto did not want to dramatize: "We weren't euphoric at the start of the season, so we're not going to be down now."
“It is obvious that we are not in the best possible situation”, noted Leclerc Friday morning, when the sanction had not yet fallen.
"It's up to us to choose the best circuit" to take this penalty, he continued, explaining that Montreal was not a bad option, because of the possibilities of overtaking the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit.
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