“We have no answer right now” – Mattia Binotto
Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix was a heartbreaking affair for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was unable to start the race after landing pole position during Saturday’s qualifying session.
Just minutes before lights out at the Circuit de Monaco, Ferrari officials confirmed the 23-year-old Monegasque driver would not start the race due to an issue with the left driveshaft which the team was unable to fix in time for the start of the race.
While many speculated the issue was as a result of Saturday’s collision with the barriers exiting the swimming pool complex with just 18s left in Q3, Ferrari Team Principal, Mattia Binotto confirmed the car fault wasn’t a gearbox glitch – and in fact, was on the opposite side compared to the accident.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Binotto said; “We need to fully understand what happened.
“The failure is on the driveshaft into the hub on the left-hand side, so it’s not a gearbox problem we had.
“The gearbox has been inspected yesterday evening, it has been rebuilt, and the gearbox was ok for the race.
“What happened is on the opposite side compared to the accident, so it may be completely unrelated to the accident.
“But something on which we need to carefully understand and analyse.
“We have no answer right now.”
Speaking as the race got underway, a very disappointed Leclerc said; “In the garage it was very, very difficult to feel ok.
“I’m getting used to this feeling, unfortunately, I’ve never finished a race here. This year I don’t start from pole, so it’s a difficult one to take.
“But I also feel for the team. The mechanics have done such a hard job yesterday to try and check everything.
“The mechanics were a bit happy this morning to see that everything seemed fine and all the parts were fine. Then this happened, so it’s a shame for everybody.”
