Mattia Binotto has revealed that Ferrari are planning to disassemble Charles Leclerc's power unit following the Monegasque's retirement from the Spanish Grand Prix. Leclerc had been comfortably leading after starting from pole position when, towards the middle of the race, he lost power due to an as yet unidentified engine issue. This forced him to make his way back to the pits, where the car was retired from the event.
Ferrari seeking an explanation for issue
Whilst the team have confirmed that the problem was power unit-related, they have yet to identify the exact cause. As such, Bintto says that the engine will be taken apart at their Maranello base on Monday. "It was a sudden issue," Binotto told media, including RacingNews365.com . "I think we learned [about] it first from Charles [on] the radio, and then from the engineers looking at the data, so it was really sudden. "We do not have yet an explanation, so we will be back at Maranello, travelling during the night, and we will disassemble it tomorrow morning."
Performance of car not compromised for heat
The race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was held in extreme heat, with temperatures climbing above 37 degrees Celsius. When asked whether Ferrari had had to compromise the performance of their car due to these conditions – particularly in terms of power unit and cooling levels – Binotto denied that this was the case. "No, I think we optimised the package for source temperatures, certainly in terms of cooling, set-up, etc.," he explained. "You need to adapt, but it has not been a compromise."
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