Charles Leclerc met race-ending issues at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday after slowing to a halt on track in his Ferrari with what has since been confirmed as a Power Unit issue on Lap 41.
Viewers could hear the disappointment in the Monegasque driver’s voice as he took to the Ferrari team radio to say: “No, no, no! No power”.
The yellow flag was waved and a virtual safety car was summoned as they worked to retrieve the Ferrari from the track.
By Lap 42, the virtual safety car had come to an end – so there was no time for anyone to make a pit stop for fresh tyres.
At the time of the incident, the Ferrari team simply posted:
💔😔
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 5, 2023
Carlos Sainz remained on track in fourth after being overtaken by Fernando Alonso on Lap 4, as the ever-improved Aston Martin team continues to impress.
Sainz managed to hold onto fourth by the chequered flag, missing out on the final step on the podium.
Speaking afterward, a visibly disappointed Leclerc told reporters: “We definitely had the car to fight for the podium. I mean, honestly, the podium was there.
“We had a good gap behind, I was managing the pace, everything felt good, so it is a shame. Now I just hope we can look into it, understand what went wrong and don’t have this problem anymore…”
Carlos Sainz added: “It was a challenging Sunday. We knew already from testing that it was going to be tough here in Bahrain and now we need to focus on improving for the upcoming races.
“Time to put our heads down, work hard and see how we can close the gap to the top. It’s only race one, so we’ll keep pushing no matter what”.
