Ferrari: problems with Charles Leclerc’s power unit in F1 Qatar Sprint race?. F1, Sprint Race Qatar: Ferrari limits the damage, Charles Leclerc suffers power unit issues.

Ferrari is doing what it can in the final Sprint Race of the 2024 F1 season. The first sentence of the article highlights the necessity for the Scuderia to limit the damage. This is what the historic Italian team was forced to do due to a disappointing qualifying session that did not allow the two SF-24 cars to aim for the top positions. McLaren secures a one-two finish that almost secures the world championship. Yes, because the 15 points earned by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri surpass the fourth and fifth positions of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. A six-point gap that increases the distance between the two teams to 30 points.

The battle remains open, at least according to mathematics. However, the gap that Ferrari faces with just two races remaining, considering that one of them is here in Qatar, where the MCL38s are favored, does not leave the Maranello team overly confident. On the other hand, if Ferrari makes mistakes and fails to manage the tires, the performance will inevitably suffer. Fortunately, in the hours leading up to the second qualifying session of the race weekend, the Maranello team has the opportunity to work on the car and change things.

The goal is to fine-tune the setup of the Maranello F1 cars to extract maximum performance through tire management. At the end of yesterday’s qualifying session, a dejected Carlos Sainz remarked over the radio that the issues faced must serve as a lesson to avoid making the same mistake today. This is what Ferrari hopes for, as they must aim to finish in the top positions and, consequently, try to reduce McLaren’s lead to keep their World Championship dream alive.

F1, Sprint Race Qatar: Ferrari limits the damage, Charles Leclerc suffers power unit issues
Carlos Sainz starts fourth and finishes fourth. His race was lackluster, with no notable moments during the 19 laps completed. The Spaniard tries to look on the bright side. As reported by our editorial team, he agrees that the SF-24 does not have any major balance issues. For this reason, he hopes that small adjustments and better tire management can provide the extra performance needed to fight at the front. He has clear ideas about the Sprint Race.

The first few laps were spent warming up the tires. The very fast formation lap did not help much. Carlos spoke of poor grip at the start and difficulties in Turn 1, where he nearly lost control of his car. According to the future Williams driver, despite following George Russell for the entire race, the British driver had better pace. This was his feeling. For Charles Leclerc, there were more dramatic moments. At the start, he lost his position to Lewis Hamilton, who passed him by taking advantage of Sainz’s unintentional block. It was a real battle.

The Monegasque also discussed the tires, that eternal unknown. Charles Leclerc made it clear that Ferrari understands the direction to take, although he is not sure if all the problems related to tire activation will be resolved. He is certainly aware that they need to give their best, as the starting position for tomorrow’s F1 race will be crucial for the outcome. The last topic of the article concerns the power unit issue. The Monegasque driver himself does not pay too much attention to the old engine, claiming that the high-mileage engine will not make a negative difference.

However, we must report a fact: there could be a power unit alert. After setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 18 with a time of 1:23.923, Bryan Bozzi, Charles Leclerc’s track engineer, quickly communicated over the radio for his driver to check the unusual numbers on the steering wheel of car number 16. These values likely referred to the car’s power unit, which, as we know, is nearing the end of its lifespan. This is confirmed by the telemetry.

The red line represents the fastest lap (18), while the white line corresponds to the last lap (19). We can clearly see that Charles Leclerc had to perform large lift & coast maneuvers in every corner: in Turn 1, he lifted off the throttle about 100 meters before the braking point, using engine braking; in Turn 4, another 50 meters earlier; in the long corners, which until that point he had taken flat out, we notice that he completely lifted off the throttle and used higher gears to lower the RPMs, allowing the engine to “breathe.”