Leclerc baffled by Ferrari’s F1 reliability woes after Baku DNF
Charles Leclerc does not understand why Ferrari's reliability has fallen apart since its strong start to the Formula 1 season, after retiring from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday.


The Monegasque driver suffered his second engine failure in three races on Sunday after a terminal failure put him out of the lead of in Baku early on.
The latest problem, which comes just two races after an engine failure cost him victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, has left the door open for title rival Max Verstappen to further extend his advantage at the top of the championship standings.
The Dutchman took victory over Sergio Perez and George Russell, and extended his advantage over Leclerc to 34 points. Perez is now second in the points, 21 behind his Red Bull team-mate.
Leclerc said the pain of the latest retirement was hard to accept, as he said there was no logical explanation for why Ferrari was now suffering such a poor finishing rate having won two of the first three races of the campaign.
"We've been fast and we didn't have particularly big problems in the first part of the season," he told Sky.
"Now, it seems that we have a bit more compared to the beginning of the season, when we didn't change anything. If anything, we made the thing better.
"So it's difficult to understand for now, but we will have to analyse obviously. I don't have the full picture of what happened today."

Leclerc's Baku disappointment followed another retirement in Barcelona
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Leclerc urged his Ferrari team to try to get to the bottom of exactly what has gone wrong in recent weeks to ensure that it does not continue to leave him with no reward for the swift pace of its F1-75 challenger.
"It hurts," said Leclerc. "We really need look into it for that to not happen again.
"I don't really find the right words to describe obviously. It's very, very disappointing. We really need to look into it."
Leclerc's retirement is Spain cost him valuable engine components and it is possible that the Baku failure may force him to go for fresh components that put him a step closer to a grid penalty.
"I don't know, I have no news," he said when asked about the penalty situation.
"Obviously, there still is disappointment. I came from the car straight to here and didn't speak to anybody from the team, so I don't know what went wrong."
Leclerc's retirement capped a disappointing day for Ferrari, with his team-mate Carlos Sainz also retiring after suffering an hydraulic problem.

Live: F1 Azerbaijan GP commentary and updates
F1 Azerbaijan GP: Verstappen leads Red Bull 1-2 as Ferrari suffers double DNF

Latest news
De Vries cleared of wrongdoing in dispute over €250K loan
Nyck de Vries has been cleared of any wrongdoing in an Amsterdam court over a claim launched against him by real estate magnate Jeroen Schothorst relating to a €250,000 loan.
Horner admits Red Bull’s real RB19 will be ‘somewhat different’
Red Bull boss Christian Horner says the real RB19 that will appear in Formula 1 testing in Bahrain later this month will be ‘somewhat different'.
Horner hints at closer links between Mercedes and Williams F1 teams
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has hinted that there could be a closer relationship between the Mercedes and Williams Formula 1 teams in the wake of James Vowles’s move.
Ford remains committed to WRC amid F1 return
Ford has stated that it remains committed to its programme in the World Rally Championship following confirmation of its return to Formula 1 as an engine supplier from 2026.
Assessing Hamilton's remarkable decade as a Mercedes F1 driver
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes for the 2013 Formula 1 season. But the journey he’s been on since has taken the Briton to new heights - and to a further six world championship titles
Why new look Haas is a litmus test for Formula 1’s new era
OPINION: With teams outside the top three having struggled in Formula 1 in recent seasons, the rules changes introduced in 2022 should have more of an impact this season. How well Haas does, as the poster child for the kind of team that F1 wanted to be able to challenge at the front, is crucial
The Mercedes F1 pressure changes under 10 years of Toto Wolff
OPINION: Although the central building blocks for Mercedes’ recent, long-lasting Formula 1 success were installed before he joined the team, Toto Wolff has been instrumental in ensuring it maximised its finally-realised potential after years of underachievement. The 10-year anniversary of Wolff joining Mercedes marks the perfect time to assess his work
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
How do the best races of F1 2022 stack up to 2021?
OPINION: A system to score all the grands prix from the past two seasons produces some interesting results and sets a standard that 2023 should surely exceed
Who were the fastest drivers in F1 2022?
Who was the fastest driver in 2022? Everyone has an opinion, but what does the stopwatch say? Obviously, differing car performance has an effect on ultimate laptime – but it’s the relative speed of each car/driver package that’s fascinating and enlightening says ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return
He has more starts without a podium than anyone else in Formula 1 world championship history, but Nico Hulkenberg is back for one more shot with Haas. After spending three years on the sidelines, the revitalised German is aiming to prove to his new team what the F1 grid has been missing
The potential-laden F1 car that Ferrari neglected
The late Mauro Forghieri played a key role in Ferrari’s mid-1960s turnaround, says STUART CODLING, and his pretty, intricate 1512 was among the most evocative cars of the 1.5-litre era. But a victim of priorities as Formula 1 was deemed less lucrative than success in sportscars, its true potential was never seen in period
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.