Leclerc in the dark over Ferrari formation lap failure

Charles Leclerc believes he and Ferrari have identified the cause of the failure that put him out of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on the formation lap.

The Monégasque was set to start second at Interlagos but spun off at Turn 6 and hit the barrier, damaging the front wing.

While he was able to get going again, Leclerc quickly pulled off to retire and post the second failure to start of his career after the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix.

Initial radio conversations suggested that a hydraulic failure was to blame for the incident, though doubts have now been cast by Leclerc.

Leclerc explains Brazil failure

"I went into the corner and I lost the power steering and then the engine cut off for safety reasons," Leclerc told media including RacingNews365.

"Then the rear wheels locked up, and that made me spin, so I had no control over the car at any point.

"Hydraulic [failure] is what I felt, but I don't think that is the issue speaking with the engineers. We know what it is, but I don't want to go into much detail.

"I tried to move the car again, it wasn't damaged, it was only the front-wing that was, I started again, got the hydraulics for 15 seconds, but then the exact same thing happened, and I lost the engine.

"It was clear that I couldn't go forward anymore because I did so for 20 metres, and the next time it would have been two metres, and that was it."