While Ferrari had confirmed earlier this week that Charles Leclerc’s engine, which experienced a problem in Baku last week and was deemed irreparable, the FIA has just made the sanction official, but perhaps not the one expected.
It will not be a complete power unit change but only a component of the power unit. Charles Leclerc will use his 3rd electronic control unit this weekend, out of the 2 allowed during the season. The penalty is automatic, which results in a 10-place grid drop at the start.
In Baku, Ferrari had indicated that the turbo had failed, but Charles Leclerc still had a usable one, so the team preferred to use this already used turbo rather than completely new turbo elements or engine block.
By introducing this new electronic system on Leclerc’s race car, the team probably wishes to test and verify that the system functions correctly and improve reliability in future races.
A penalty on a change of electric or thermal engine or even on a turbo cannot be ruled out for the upcoming races, as well as starting from Sunday, if Ferrari determines that the position on the starting grid is not sufficient to allow for a podium finish, for example.
Note that Tsunoda has already been penalized for a power unit change and will start from the back of the grid.
