Mattia Binotto believes it is "very likely" that Carlos Sainz suffered from a known power unit issue at the Austrian Grand Prix. After a strong display of pace at the Red Bull Ring, Ferrari were on course for a 1-2 finish, with Charles Leclerc leading Carlos Sainz. However, Sainz's race was brought to a spectacular end on Lap 56 of 71 after his power unit failed and the car caught fire. This retirement promoted Red Bull's Max Verstappen to second place to minimise the impact of the Dutchman's defeat in Austria. The Ferrari Team Principal commented that he assumes Sainz's retirement was caused by the same problem that forced Leclerc into retirement at the Azerbaijan GP. "I think we've only had two engine failures so far. The others were more related to power unit rather than internal combustion," Binotto told media, including RacingNews365.com . "Obviously we need to look into what happened today. Is it the same as the one we've had already in Baku with Charles? Very likely."
Binotto anticipating PU solution "very soon"
This latest retirement is the sixth time this season that one of the F1-75 cars has failed to finish a race. Four retirements have come down to mechanical failures. On top of this, Leclerc has already taken grid penalties for a new power unit, and further penalties are expected to be handed to Sainz in the coming races. Binotto emphasised that the power unit issue is still lingering, but was hopeful of a solution being introduced "very soon". "It's certainly a concern, but the people back at Maranello are working very hard to fix them, which is not solved yet," added Binotto. "Obviously if you look at what happened to Carlos, the problem has not been solved yet. "But we have new elements and I know how strong they are working, how good they are, and I can count on them and that issue will be addressed very soon, or as soon as possible.
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