Charles Leclerc receives grid penalty at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc faces at least a 10-place grid penalty in Jeddah as Ferrari are forced to fit a third electronics control unit, pushing him over the single-season allocation; watch the Saudi Arabian GP live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend

Charles Leclerc has been handed a grid penalty for Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix following his retirement in the opening race of the season in Bahrain.

It comes as a result of Ferrari replacing the Energy Store and Control Electronics on Leclerc’s engine, meaning he will go over the allocation of two ECUs without penalty per season when the team fit a third for the race in Jeddah.

The 10-place penalty could prove to be more should Ferrari be required to change any other parts of the car.

“On Sunday, we had two different issues,” Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said on Wednesday, per the F1 website. “The first one was on the Sunday morning, when we did the fire up, and the second one was in the race. Unfortunately, it was two times the control unit, the ECU.

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Ride onboard with Charles Leclerc as his Ferrari lost power during the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix

“It’s something that we never experienced in the past. I hope now it’s under control, but we have a deep analysis on this. Unfortunately, we’ll have to take the penalty in Jeddah, because we have only a pool of two control units for the season.”

Leclerc was third behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez when he was forced to retire from the new campaign’s curtain-raiser, with pressure on Ferrari this season to challenge the dominance of Red Bull having seen early hopes of competing in 2022 fizzle out.

It marks a less-than-perfect start to the year for Ferrari as they begin a new era under Vasseur following the resignation of Mattia Binotto.

The penalty shifts the attention somewhat to Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz as he seeks a podium finish after finishing fourth behind Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin in race one.

Sky Sports F1’s live Saudi Arabian GP schedule

Thursday
2:30pm: Drivers’ Press Conference

Friday
10.50pm: F2 Practice
1pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice One (session starts 1.30pm)
2:55pm: F2 Qualifying
4:45pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Two (session starts 5pm)
6:15pm: The F1 Show: Saudi Arabia

Saturday
1.15pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Three (session starts 1:30pm)
3:05pm: F2 Sprint Race
4pm: Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying build-up
5pm: SAUDI ARABIAN GP QUALIFYING

Sunday
1:35pm: F2 Feature Race
3.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Saudi Arabian GP build-up
5pm: THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX
7pm: Chequered flag: Saudi Arabian GP Reaction

Watch the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend with Sunday’s race live at 5pm. Get Sky Sports