Charles Leclerc played a mean joke on his Ferrari engineers on the final lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Monegasque driver was powering to victory in the opening race of the new Formula 1 season when he radioed his team that his engine was broken. The mere suggestion of such issues would have undoubtedly worried Ferrari, particularly after Leclerc himself suffered engine issues that robbed him of the win at Bahrain in 2019.
Leclerc had secured a sensational pole position on Saturday and he held onto the race lead when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen challenged him in an epic battle. The world champion later suffered a fuel pump failure and retired while Leclerc was joined on the podium by teammate Carlos Sainz and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.
