Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc could face more grid penalties as the season goes on after he confirmed both of his allocated ECUs were unsalvageable.

“I’m sure that it will be a step forward compared to Bahrain and it’s also not as big of a problem as Bahrain in terms of tyre degradation. “We understand these problems but as a result, I obviously need to take the penalty. But with 22 more races to go, Leclerc finds himself vulnerable to further penalties down the line should his current ECU also fail.

Charles Leclerc is set to take a 10-place grid penalty at this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and while he knows it has not been an ideal start to the ...

“Given how tough and how competitive they were in Bahrain, it’s going to be extremely difficult. “I want to think so,” said Sainz, when asked if a podium finish is possible in Jeddah. “This weekend we are starting from the back foot, but our target is to try and do something special. So, it hasn’t gone as planned, and when it’s Ferrari [and a situation] doesn’t go as well as it should, then there are lots of voices and all of this around the team.” It’s the beginning of the season. Charles Leclerc is set to take a 10-place grid penalty at this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc has a grid penalty in just the second race of the 2023 season while Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes target a return to form in Jeddah this ...

[endured a disastrous start](/f1/f1-mercedes-lewis-hamilton-george-russell-toto-wolff-b2294941.html) in the opening race of 2023 in Bahrain, with Toto Wolff insisting they will have to [ditch their unique “zero-pod”](/f1/f1-mercedes-toto-wolff-lewis-hamilton-b2294281.html) philosophy in order to be competitive again. [the Jeddah track in December 2021](https://www.independent.co.uk/f1/lewis-hamilton-max-verstappen-saudi-arabian-gp-b1970230.html), 24 grand prix ago – admitted it was a “shock” when he first drove the W14 car last month, acknowledging that three teams are currently ahead of them. [Toto Wolff](https://indy-cms-prod.brightsites.co.uk/topic/toto-wolff) admitted that he is set to [ditch this breed of car](https://indy-cms-prod.brightsites.co.uk/f1/f1-mercedes-toto-wolff-lewis-hamilton-b2294281.html) after seeing the roughly second-a-lap deficit to Red Bull in Sunday’s grand prix. The Silver Arrows [endured a disastrous start](/f1/f1-mercedes-lewis-hamilton-george-russell-toto-wolff-b2294941.html) in the opening race of 2023 in Bahrain, with Toto Wolff insisting they will have to [ditch their unique “zero-pod”](/f1/f1-mercedes-toto-wolff-lewis-hamilton-b2294281.html) philosophy in order to be competitive again. At some point in the year. “There are times you’re not in agreement with certain team members but we continue to communicate. It must be tense at the team right now, the quality is there, it just needs direction and oxygen to calm heads.” “The grand prix carrying on as normal, without even mentioning the atrocities that have just been committed on that same soil, legitimises these heinous crimes. We’re not where we want to be and we need to keep working on it. It doesn’t mean we can’t catch them up...” Hamilton finished fifth, while team-mate George Russell came home a lowly seventh. [Formula 1](/topic/formula-1) from 2014-2021 with eight Constructors’ Championships, had a season to forget in 2022 as new regulations caught them out and they finished third in the standings.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was chasing the podium when he was forced to retire from the opening race of the 2023 season in Bahrain. Meanwhile, his rival Max ...

In the third session of the Bahrain qualifying, both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were seen running an extra 1mph on the main straight as compared to Verstappen and Sergio Perez. However, it suffered problems in the high-speed corners as compared to Honda engines. But according to Marko, the Italian giant has been suffering from this problem since the 2022 season. Its the first DNF by a Ferrari driver in the season-opening race since 2016. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has explained the reason for Ferrari’s failure to pose a threat to the Milton-Keynes-based team. Meanwhile, his rival Max Verstappen comfortably stormed to victory creating a lead in the championship standings.

Leclerc suffered from a DNF during the season-opening race in Bahrain and has already had to take a ten-place grid penalty for the upcoming Saudi Arabian Grand ...

Leclerc's current Ferrari contract expires at the end of next season. He has raced for the team since 2019.

He added that he was eager to “stop the talk and get back to driving” this weekend. [Charles Leclerc to get Saudi GP penalty after Ferrari power unit failure in Bahrain](https://theathletic.com/4311840/2023/03/15/charles-leclerc-saudi-gp-penalty-ferrari/) [F1 driver power rankings, Bahrain edition: Fernando Alonso’s back on top](https://theathletic.com/4293009/2023/03/10/f1-driver-power-rankings-bahrain/) [Who’ll win the F1 championships? “At first, I was like, I’m not sure how the team is going to react to it. We need to all push in the same direction. We just need to be on it and focused on ourselves.” “This is absolutely untrue,” Leclerc said when asked if he’d spoken to Elkann, Ferrari’s chairman since 2018.

Charles Leclerc has quashed suggestions of turbulence behind the scenes at Ferrari as the team battles to keep pace with Red Bull after a torrid start to ...

"It's only the first race of the season and we've still got many more races to go. We just need to be on it and focus on ourselves." We all need to push in the same direction as I said this is the most important. [Listen to the Sky Sports F1 Podcast](https://www.skysports.com/podcasts/36578/12822277/sky-sports-f1-podcast) 'We all need a kick'](https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12835403/lewis-hamilton-has-no-plan-to-leave-mercedes-after-poor-start-to-2023-formula-1-season) [Street racing returns: When to watch Saudi Arabian GP live on Sky](https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12828809/saudi-arabian-gp-2023-watch-formula-1s-return-to-jeddahs-street-circuit-live-on-sky-sports-f1) [Get Sky Sports](https://www.skysports.com/watch/get-sky?DCMP=afc-shop:ec_upgrade [Download the Sky Sports App](https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/ContentPromo)

Slow start to the 2023 season gets even worse for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia.

I like this challenge of starting a little bit more on the back foot and trying to do something special, and come back at the front as quickly as possible.” “It (the atmosphere) is a lot better than what the news makes it sound like,” said Sainz. “Well, it is the way it is,” said a pragmatic Leclerc. It is nonetheless another setback for Leclerc after a deeply frustrating start to the 2023 season. Leclerc then suffered a failure during the race, forcing him to retire from third place, and Ferrari’s post-race analysis determined that he must take on a new Control Electronics for this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Ferrari encountered reliability issues in Bahrain when it fired up Leclerc’s SF-23 prior to the race, forcing the team to install a second Energy Store and Control Electronics on the car.