Ex-Formula 1 driver turned pundit Martin Brundle has admitted that “it’s jaw drop and eyes roll time” at Ferrari, with the Italians looking set to have yet another season full of reliability issues.
2022 was a massively wasted year for Ferrari, with the Maranello-based team having arguably had the best car, but the worst reliability.
As a result, Charles Leclerc retired from two races whilst leading, due to an engine failure.
Carlos Sainz too suffered several power unit-based issues, resulting in himself and Leclerc taking multiple grid penalties throughout the season due to needing new engine components outside the legal limit.
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After identifying their engine’s reliability as a weak point, Ferrari reportedly worked tirelessly throughout the winter break to solve the issues with their engine and most importantly, fix them.
It was believed that they’d done exactly that, with Italian media having speculated that Ferrari had discovered an additional 30hp as a result of fixing their engine.
The season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, though, painted a very different picture.
Ferrari’s reliability in Bahrain was somehow worse than last season, with Leclerc having gotten through two sets of control electronics.
Staggeringly, Ferrari suffered an issue with both sets of control electronics, with the Monegasque having retired from third place following an engine failure.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the Italians have been forced into fitting a third set of control electronics to the 25-year-old’s car, meaning Leclerc has been slapped with a 10-place grid penalty this weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Each driver can only use two sets of control electronics throughout the season, with Leclerc now set to be slapped with several penalties once again throughout the season.
Brundle can’t believe that Ferrari “burned” both of Leclerc’s legal sets of control electronics, with the pundit admitting that Ferrari “obviously” have some issues to solve.
“The reliability – Leclerc taking a 10-place grid drop here, it’s jaw drop and eyes roll time,” Brundle told Sky Sports.
“Already? It seems incredible that they’ve burned through two control units.
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“There are obviously some issues there to be sorted out and reliability is everything.
“Teams, you’d imagine, have got that sort of thing aced by now, so that’s a shocker.
“I think the Ferrari will look better here than in Bahrain.”