Leclerc hopeful Ferrari can salvage upgraded engine after heavy Monza crash

Charles Leclerc remains hopeful that Ferrari can salvage the upgraded power unit involved in his heavy crash during the Italian Grand Prix, avoiding a looming grid penalty later in the season.

On Lap 2 at Monza, Leclerc suffered a violent impact at Parabolica that destroyed his car and brought out a red flag. The Monegasque was running Ferrari’s newly introduced ADUO-upgraded specification for the very first time at the team’s home circuit.

Following the massive collision, the engine was removed from the car and was not used at the subsequent Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid while engineers continued their detailed technical evaluations. Should the unit prove damaged beyond repair, Leclerc will have to introduce another ADUO-boosted component into his pool, triggering a grid drop for exceeding his season allocation.

Awaiting Ferrari’s Engine Verdict

Addressing the situation regarding the power unit’s condition, Leclerc confirmed that assessments in Maranello are still underway.

“For now, of what I know, they’re still checking it; we’ll see,” Leclerc explained. “I mean, I don’t know yet. If we manage to save it, then that’s great. If not, then probably that’s a penalty at some point.”

The potential grid penalty adds further pressure to Ferrari’s campaign as they seek to maximise their technical packages without incurring costly setbacks.

Qualifying Deficit and Deployment Concerns

Beyond the immediate reliability questions, Leclerc highlighted that the Scuderia must unlock stronger one-lap performance on Saturdays to capitalise on their underlying race pace. While the car demonstrates competitive form on race day, single-lap execution remains hindered by energy deployment limitations.

“For sure, I think our car is a strong race car, but we just need to try and understand how to unlock more performance in qualifying,” Leclerc stated. “We know that deployment is even more of a struggle, I feel, on a Saturday than on a Sunday, and for that, we don’t have any quick fixes.”

“But whatever we can do to try and gain a bit of performance on the Saturday would be very helpful for our race result.”