Charles Leclerc looks set for more engine heartbreak this weekend after he admitted more issues with the power unit in his Ferrari.
The Italian team have endured some rotten luck in recent races, with huge reliability concerns over their engines, which they manufacture themselves. Leclerc has been forced to retire from two races so far this season after engine blowouts in Spain and Azerbaijan.
He would have been praying for a smoother weekend as he made his way to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, but it appears that might not be the case. After two frustrating practice sessions on Friday, the Monegasque gave a glum assessment of what the weekend may hold for him.
"A tricky day," said Leclerc when asked to describe how practice had gone. "The first session, we didn't get much data from it just because of the weather and very few laps. In FP2, we had quite a few problems on my side, so hopefully tomorrow we can have a bit of a cleaner day and have things going our way."
Asked if he could clarify more about what exactly those "problems" were, his answer confirmed the worst fear of Ferrari fans. "I don't know if there were the radio messages on the coverage but overall, just some power unit things that were making it very difficult to drive," he responded.
"It is fine, it is set ups more than problems so we will modify it for tomorrow. With the softs, it was again very tricky. For some reason, it didn't feel as good as on the medium and again, we had those small issues that weren't easy to manage. But overall, I think the performance is in the car so this is positive."
Leclerc has fallen 49 points behind runaway championship leader Max Verstappen. The gap in the constructors' championship is even greater, as Red Bull overcame their own early-season gremlins to dominate – they have won each of the last six races, and want to extend that record at Silverstone.
Ferrari could take advantage of a struggle for Sergio Perez, though, who was glum after a practice day on Friday. "I think from our preparation that we had and simulator, the car is miles off – so we assume that there's something going on that we need to understand," said the Mexican. "We are a bit on the back foot, so we just have to understand what's going on with it."
