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Disassembly of Leclerc's power unit that went up in smoke on lap 20 of the Azerbaijan GP, while Charles was leading the race, began in Maranello this morning. It failed a part in the cylinder head that has never accused trouble in the Superfast's development. In Canada the Monegasque will have a new powertrain at zero kilometers, but he could use the Unit 1 turbo without going into penalty. Sainz was stopped, however, by the pump that controls the hydraulic system.
The response is hard to swallow: heat engine and turbo knockout. The 066/7 number two that crashed into Charles Leclerc's Ferrari F1-75 on lap 20 of the Azerbaijan GP, while the Monegasque was in the lead, is being disassembled in the mechanical department of the Racing Department.
The cursed six-cylinder arrived in Maranello early this morning for what can now be considered an ... autopsy, since the failure in the cylinder head resulted in damage that also extended to the turbo.
As Mattia Binotto had said as early as Sunday evening, Ferrari will go to Canada with engine 3, while it may still use the unit 1 supercharger system (as in Monaco) to avoid going into penalty.
In the engine department headed by Enrico Gualtieri, there is a lot of nervousness because what gave out, according to rumors that have filtered in, was a part that has not given problems for years and, therefore, was not a risk part. It is a part that is not manufactured in Ferrari, but is secured by a supplier who self-certifies the quality of each part.
In the analysis being performed by technicians, it may emerge what may have induced the rupture that led to the bluish smoke that came out of the red car's exhaust before forcing Leclerc to pull over for his second retirement.
The engine to be assembled in Canada will be zero-mileage and, therefore, should not fear any reliability issues, so the Cavallino's engineers will have time to figure out what actions to take and whether there will be a need to reclaim some parts in anticipation: it is certain, in fact, that Ferrari will be forced to unmark a fourth, if not a fifth engine, in the process considering a life that is proving to be significantly shorter than the 7 GPs.
Regarding the stop that resulted in Carlos Sainz's retirement on Lap 9, there are fewer mysteries: what broke down would have been the pump that controls the hydraulic system and allows several important functions of the car to be managed. A "brake by wire" warning appeared on the Spaniard's steering wheel computer display, but it is clear that the rear brake problem was an effect (the system went into protection) and not the cause of the knockout. Unusual breakdowns stirring the Cavallino.
Stops that did not seem to be determined by the performance increase sought in the challenge with Red Bull: the use of more or less pushed mappings would not have highlighted flaws in the "Superfast" engine, which, in truth, of dyno breaks added up to many in the advanced testing phase. Engine 1 was deliberated with a little less beer in its system, waiting for the expected long runs over the duration (over 7 thousand kilometers) to give the green light to push harder.
We're waiting for Ferrari to come out with the usual note with which Maranello officializes the breakdowns (and that's credit to the team headed by Binotto), while engineers are also probing the other problems that are undermining the reliability of the 066/7 engines of customer teams Haas and Alfa Romeo, struggling with different power unit packaging.
Nothing is left to chance: every clue may be useful in turning around a championship that seemed to have been born under the best auspices for Ferrari and is shattering Charles Leclerc's rainbow dreams. The game is not over and in Maranello they have not given up, knowing that they have a winning car and driver on their hands
Translation by DeepL
