Ferrari's Azerbaijan Gp: What Went Wrong?

Ferrari suffered a disastrous double retirement at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2022, with both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz forced to retire from the race. Leclerc was leading the race when his car suffered a power unit issue, causing smoke to pour from the back of his car. Sainz retired from fourth position on lap nine with a hydraulic issue. The team was left without answers as to the cause of the issues, and their title hopes took a blow as a result of the race.

Charles Leclerc's car failure

Leclerc immediately returned to the pits, and his team confirmed a power unit issue. This marked Leclerc's second retirement from the lead in three races, following a similar disappointment in Barcelona, and a turbo failure in the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, a devastated Leclerc expressed his frustration and disappointment, stating that they needed to investigate the issue to prevent it from reoccurring. This engine failure not only dashed Leclerc's prospects of winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix but also resulted in a substantial loss of points in the championship standings.

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto acknowledged the reliability issues, noting that the team would need to analyse and address the problems. With a series of engine failures plaguing the team, Ferrari faced a challenging task to salvage their title hopes in the remaining races.

Carlos Sainz's car failure

Ferrari suffered a double retirement at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2022, with both their drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, forced to exit the race prematurely.

Sainz's car failure occurred on lap 8 (or lap 9 according to some sources) and was caused by a hydraulic issue. The Spaniard had been running in fourth position when he pulled off the track into the run-off area at turn four.

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto confirmed that the team would be investigating the hydraulic system to identify the specific cause of the issue.

This early exit caused a virtual safety car situation, which benefited his teammate Leclerc, who was able to regain the lead from Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing. However, Leclerc's own hopes for a victory were dashed on lap 20 when his power unit blew, causing smoke to pour from the back of his car.

Leclerc's retirement dealt a significant blow to his championship chances, as he had been leading the race and was already nine points down on Max Verstappen in the overall standings.

The double DNF in Azerbaijan was a major setback for Ferrari, and it remains to be seen whether they can recover and get on top of their reliability issues.

Red Bull's victory

Red Bull Racing had a perfect day in Azerbaijan as their arch-rivals for the 2022 F1 championship, Ferrari, finished with no points. Max Verstappen, who started third on the grid, went on to win the race, with his teammate Sergio Perez finishing second.

Verstappen's victory was not without challenges, however. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari had started in pole position and was leading the race after an excellent strategy call. But on lap 20, smoke started pouring out of the back of his car, forcing him to retire from the race. Ferrari confirmed that Leclerc suffered a power unit issue. This was Leclerc's second retirement in three races, dealing a major blow to his championship chances.

Ferrari's woes continued with Carlos Sainz also being forced to retire early on lap 8 due to a hydraulic issue. This double retirement for Ferrari meant that Red Bull Racing extended their lead in the constructors' championship.

The victory in Azerbaijan was a significant boost for Verstappen, who now leads the F1 championship standings by 21 points from his teammate Perez and 34 points from Leclerc, who drops to third.

Red Bull Racing's triumph in Azerbaijan was made even sweeter given their own struggles with reliability issues at the start of the season, where they had to deal with a similar number of engine failures.

Ferrari's engine problems

Ferrari suffered a disastrous double retirement at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with both their drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, forced to exit the race prematurely.

Leclerc was leading the race when smoke started billowing from the back of his car on lap 20, causing him to retire with a power unit issue. This marked the second time in three races that Leclerc had to retire from the lead due to engine failure, with the previous incident occurring during the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona in May.

Sainz's race ended even earlier, with a hydraulic issue forcing him to retire on lap 8 or 9.

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto acknowledged the team's reliability problems but could not provide specific answers regarding the causes of the issues. He emphasized the need to analyze the components and understand the underlying factors, such as quality, reliability, usage, or other potential issues.

The engine problems in Azerbaijan dealt a significant blow to Ferrari and Leclerc's championship hopes, allowing Max Verstappen and Red Bull to extend their lead in the standings.

Reliability issues

Ferrari suffered a double retirement at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2022, with both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz forced to retire from the race.

Ferrari's reliability issues continued in Azerbaijan, with both Leclerc and Sainz experiencing mechanical failures. Leclerc, who was leading the race, suffered a power unit issue that caused smoke to come from the back of his car on lap 20, forcing him to retire. This was Leclerc's second retirement in three races.

Sainz retired even earlier, on lap 8, due to a hydraulic issue. This marked another disappointing race for the Ferrari team, as their customer cars also suffered engine failures. Alfa Romeo Racing's Guanyu Zhou and Haas' Kevin Magnussen were forced to retire from the race.

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto acknowledged the reliability problems but stated that it was too early to provide specific details about the issues. He emphasized the need to analyze and understand the problems, expressing concern about the number of reliability issues. Binotto also highlighted the team's performance and strategy calls, believing they had a strong chance of winning the race despite the setbacks.

Leclerc expressed his disappointment, stating that it hurt to see another opportunity to win slip away. He emphasized the need to understand the issues to prevent them from reoccurring. Sainz shared his frustration, especially given the team's high hopes for the race.

The reliability issues in Azerbaijan impacted Ferrari's championship standings, with Leclerc falling further behind in the race for the title. The team faced the challenge of addressing these issues quickly before the next race in Canada, another power-sensitive circuit.

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