Ferrari chief orders ‘full investigation’ into Charles Leclerc’s retirement at Bahrain Grand Prix

The cause of Leclerc’s retirement in Bahrain has not yet been discovered

Charles Leclerc was forced out of the season opener at the Sakhir Circuit (Getty Images)

Frederic Vasseur, the new Ferrari F1 team team principal, has said a “full investigation” is required to determine what caused Charles Leclerc’s retirement at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Monegasque driver was forced out of the season opening race at the Sakhir Circuit in a disappointing start to the 2023 season for the Italian team.

Having been running third, Leclerc encountered an engine issue after 39 laps in an early blow to his hopes of mounting a serious title challenge.

Vasseur, who replaced Mattia Binotto at the helm for Ferrari during the offseason, has now admitted that the issue came as a surprise.

The former Alfa Romeo chief clarified that it is not a problem with the team’s engine, but said that it was “a shame” for Leclerc’s season to start in such a manner.

“We never expected to have something like this because it’s the first time that we have had it,” Vasseur said to the Formula 1 website after the race in Bahrain. “We haven’t faced the same issue at all during the six or seven thousand kilometres that we did with the engine last week, with the three teams [Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Haas], and… with the dyno.

“We need to do a full investigation before we give you an answer [on what caused the retirement].

“We had an issue on the engine and we have to investigate to understand what exactly has happened. It’s not the engine itself, but it’s an accessory. I would say that it’s a shame but it’s the real picture of the situation… it is what it is.”

While Carlos Sainz was able to achieve a finish in fourth position, the weekend in Bahrain dented any Ferrari optimism that they may be able to match Red Bull.

The Italian outfit were the closest challengers to the 2022 Constructors’ Championship winners last season, but still finished some way behind Christian Horner’s team.

Max Verstappen’s bid for a third successive world title got off to a perfect start and Vasseur stressed “huge improvements” are required if his new team are to properly challenge for either championship.

The Ferrari team principal explained: “Carlos [Sainz] drove a solid race, running at a consistent pace and he gave it his all to finish fourth. We have to improve a lot in terms of tyre management and clearly, we have to ensure we have no more reliability problems like the one that affected us today.

“On [one-lap pace] we were able to match Red Bull but it was not the case in a long stint... Charles probably would have been able to do P3 but… we were not able to finish the race.

“The picture is also that on reliability we have to make huge improvements. We have to consider the race today to be the real picture; to start from there, to improve and change the situation.”

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