Charles Leclerc will use the engine which cost him victory in Bahrain at the Chinese Grand Prix.
A cylinder failure on Leclerc’s V6 turbo engine robbed him what would have been a maiden F1 victory, having dominated the race after claiming his first pole position.
The loss of power he encountered was so extreme he was fortunate to even finish on the podium, with a late Safety Car allowing him to hold on to third position when he likely would have tumbled down the order in normal race conditions.
Ferrari conducted an analysis of the faulty engine at its factory in Italy between races. It has traced the fault to a short circuit within an injection control unit — the team says it has never encountered such an issue on that component before.
Being able to use the engine again will be a relief for Leclerc, as changing parts at this stage of the season increases the likelihood of incurring grid penalties later in the year.
Despite Mercedes claiming a one-two in Bahrain, the pace Ferrari displayed throughout the weekend has made the Italian team favourites for the China race, the 1000th in F1’s history.
http://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/26454378/leclerc-use-faulty-bahrain-engine-chinese-grand-prix
