FERRARI REVEAL CAUSE OF LECLERC DNS

Scuderia Ferrari has confirmed the cause of Charles Leclerc’s DNS in last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.

In front of his home crowd, the Monegasque driver was due to start from pole position for the 78-lap encounter, but he never made it to the grid.

A crash at the end of qualifying secured him pole, however, this did cause concern surrounding possible gearbox damage.

After the crash and on Sunday morning Ferrari checked the gearbox, but believed the component to be fine as it sent him out to the grid. However, moments later Leclerc limped back to the pits and was unable to take the start.

The damaged gearbox is linked to Leclerc’s crash in Q3, which cracked the driveshaft hub and failed on the way to the grid pre-race.

With only 40-minutes before the grand prix, the Italian team did not have time to change the hub forcing Leclerc to watch from the sidelines.

Formula 1’s Parc Ferme conditions restrict the amount of time a team is given to inspect its cars after qualifying. One-hour on Saturday afternoon and five on Sunday morning before the race.

Ferrari reveals cause of Charles Leclerc’s DNS – Image: Motorsport Images

Despite performing thorough checks on Sunday, Ferrari did not check the hub which failed on the opposite side to where the impact occurred. This was because it was not part of the checks completed for this type of impact.

The crack in the hub on the other side was something Ferrari had never previously encountered.

When the car was fired up all appeared well, however underload on the way to the grid the hub failed and damaged the driveshaft.

It is understood the gearbox itself can be used again, but given the 23-year-old did not take part in the race, he will almost certainly take a fresh unit for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

A Ferrari spokesperson said it will revise its processes regarding checking components associated with the driveshaft to ensure that this will be detected in the future.

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