Leclerc handed ten place grid penalty for Canadian GP

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix from outside the top ten, regardless of what happens in tomorrow's qualifying session at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.

A report from the FIA's technical delegate confirmed that Leclerc's F1-75 had received a new control electronics (CE) unit, which it would be using for the remainder of the weekend.

"The control electronics used by Charles Leclerc is the third of the two new control electronics allowed for the 2022 Championship season, and this is not in conformity with Article 28.2 of the 2022 Formula One Sporting Regulations," said the official report.

• Read also: Verstappen just pips Leclerc in second Montreal practice

It comes a week after Leclerc's engine blew up while he was leading the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“Obviously I'm starting a little bit more in the back,” Leclerc conceded when asked about the penalty. “But I think it was the best decision to make, so let’s see how it goes.

"The pace is there so hopefully we can come back to where we want to be," he said. "[But] the overtaking was a little bit more difficult than I expected today.

Although a new power unit was inevitable after Baku, it had been unclear whether all parts - including the CE - would have to be changed or whether the team would be able to avoid a penalty tis weekend.

A new internal combustion engine (ICE), MGU-K and MGU-H have also been installed but these are still within Leclerc's permitted allocation. No decision has yet been taken about a new turbo, which would further add to Leclerc's grid penalty.

It comes after Leclerc trimmed Max Verstappen's early lead in Friday's practice session to a slender 0.081s in FP2, which had promised a close battle in Saturday's qualifying session that has now been rendered moot.

"Our main focus going forward will be in preparing our race in the best possible way," Leclerc said. "It was a positive first day overall, we did a good job improving our set-up from FP1 to FP2.

“It is pretty close [to Red Bull]. The race pace we need to work on. It’s a bit difficult to have a clear picture because I was on a different compound all the time, but overall it didn’t look too bad - so that’s good.

"Track evolution is usually quite big at this track, which was also the case today. The wind was quite strong, but it didn’t affect my running much.

"It’s really good to be back at this track," he added, after Formula 1's three year absence from Montreal because of COVID. "It has a lot of character, and it’s always fun to drive on circuits where you have to ride the kerbs so much."

Leclerc's team mate Sainz had been second in FP1, 0.246s behind Verstappen, and went on to end the day third fastest overall.

"I’ve enjoyed the first practice day and we have been able to progress well through the two sessions," he commented. "[The track] is demanding, bumpy and full of kerbs, so it’s definitely a challenge for these new cars.

"It got very tricky at times due to the strong and gusty wind, but we managed to complete all our programme without any issues.

“Max looks to be very quick this weekend, he was on it since the beginning, and I think we’re playing a little bit of catch up to him, in both one-lap pace and on long run.

"But I think with the steps that we normally do into Saturday and Sunday, we can get ourselves up there," he insisted. "Understanding the tyres will be very important come Sunday. We gathered good data with today’s run plan, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s qualifying."

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