Charles Leclerc has spoken of the "vicious circle" Ferrari has found itself in with a lack of power from its F1 engine, as he wagered a bet on Mercedes.
The Scuderia has been running with an engine deficit all season to Mercedes, but has emerged as its closest rival in the championship as engineers at Maranello attempt to solve the problems.
The first of these is that the Ferrari turbo was designed to be small, as to eliminate turbo lag and provide excellent power at low speeds and in traction zones on throttle application.
The drawback is that the power unit is unable to produce top-end straight-line speed to match Mercedes, with Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton consistent in their observations that the Mercedes-powered cars seem to pull away at the end of long straights.
To counter this, Ferrari did bring an ADUO-boosted engine to the Italian Grand Prix, but Leclerc has spoken of the built-in advantages Mercedes seems to have.
"Honestly, it is kind of a vicious circle," Leclerc told media, including RacingNews365.
"I mean, as soon as you have a lot more power, then you are deploying later out of the corners, because the power unit is giving you more power out of the corners.
"So you are deploying later, and so you are cutting later.
"So I would bet on their ICE power being quite significantly more."
The article continues below.
Leclerc hopeful over engine
As for Leclerc's ADUO-boosted engine following his big Monza crash, the Monegasque is hopeful that the power unit avoided critical damage and can be used again.
However, if it is not, he will be forced into taking an engine penalty before the end of the season in order to introduce the new parts to his pool once again.
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