Ferrari to launch Charles Leclerc investigation after unseen Azerbaijan problem

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has confirmed the team is going to launch an investigation into an engine problem for Charles Leclerc in Azerbaijan. 

Starting 10th after crashing in qualifying, Leclerc was initially fighting with Lando Norris and Liam Lawson, but was unable to find a way past Lawson after their pit-stops, as team-mate Lewis Hamilton was waved past after running a contra-strategy to see if he could get past the cars ahead.

He did not, and then misjudged his execution in trying to return eighth place to the Monegasque, finishing a few tenths ahead. 

The eight-nine result, combined with a two-four for Mercedes, meant the Scuderia slipped out of second place in the constructors' standings, as Vasseur detailed the investigation would be launched whilst also summing up where the weekend went wrong after a strong Friday.

"We cannot be satisfied with eighth and ninth. We started behind Norris, and we finished behind him, which is the reality of this track," Vasseur explained.

"We had an issue with Charles’ engine, which we will now investigate, and even if it was marginal, it was enough to prevent him from being able to overtake in a straight line, which explains why we were stuck behind Lawson. 

"The main regret is for qualifying, because we had the pace to do a much better job, and that’s where the weekend got away from us. 

"It’s encouraging that the pace was there, but frustrating that we did not capitalise on it because you have two parts of the job: one is pure performance, and the other is your execution.

"In terms of performance, we made a step forward after Spa, but to be P10 and P12 yesterday was not what we expected. Now we need to understand what we could have done better, because we made some mistakes and some poor choices. 

"I know Charles is accepting the responsibility for qualifying, but we need to work on our execution to come back stronger."

Later, addressing assembled media, including RacingNews365, Vasseur remained tight-lipped about the problem. 

"Charles had the issue on the engine, it was not five times, but it was enough to spend your week behind someone and not being able to overtake," Vasseur said.

"Then the cost is that on the engine, you are losing the two-tenths plus the gap with the car in front of you, and for Charles, it was a lot, I think."