Both Ferrari drivers had problems in the last practice session before the Italian Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc pitted his car five minutes before the end of an already shortened session. After completing his last lap, he said to his team: “I have to stop” and added: “I can’t explain that here.”
A spokesman for the team said, “We cut his session a few minutes as he was feeling slightly uncomfortable.” They did not say whether his participation in sprint qualifying this afternoon was in doubt. However, driver changes are only allowed before the second practice session on the sprint qualifying weekends.
Leclerc had already lost the run earlier in the session – together with the other drivers – when team-mate Carlos Sainz Jnr had a bad crash at Ascari. Sainz was unhurt after preliminary checks, but was checked again before the sprint qualifying.
Sainz’s second Saturday crash of as many race weekends occurred on his 15th lap of the day, leaving the front of the Ferrari badly damaged. The team is “working flat out to get Carlos’ car ready for sprint qualifying,” said the spokesman.
The drivers occupied the fourth row on the grid for the sprint qualifying, Sainz ahead of Leclerc. The latter had problems with the drive unit in qualifying, which prompted the team to convert their original hardware from the start of the season.
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Italian Grand Prix 2021
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