Disaster struck the Ferrari camp in the run-up to the Qatar Grand Prix, with a fuel system issue detected on Carlos Sainz’s SF-23 that proved irreparable in time for the race.
Sainz, who had qualified P12 on Friday, has left Charles Leclerc as the Scuderia’s single representative in Sunday’s event.
Ferrari’s mechanics were seen hard at work on Sainz’s car to try and fix the problem in time for him to join the grid. But the team ultimately decided that a timely repair was not possible.
"Due to a fuel system issue on his car, Carlos will not take part in the Qatar GP,” Ferrari said in a short statement.
Leclerc will launch his race from fifth on the grid. After Saturday’s sprint, that he concluded seventh on the road before he was demoted to P12 due to a track limit penalty, the Monegasque noted that he will have an extra set of the medium tyre available for the race compared to his main competitors.
“This could give us an advantage in tomorrow’s race as the Medium compound seemed strong today and we have an extra set compared to our competitors who already used theirs in the Sprint,” he said on Saturday.
“If we take care of the Softs, they can be good too, so it should be an interesting race.”
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