Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has received a 10-place grid penalty after taking on new engine components at the 2022 United States Grand Prix.
Ferrari have fitted the Monegasque with his sixth internal combustion engine (ICE) and turbocharger of the season, with both parts only allocated three for the entire F1 season.
He isn’t the only driver to be handed a grid penalty, as Fernando Alonso will be demoted five spots after Alpine fitted his car with a sixth ICE.Â
The Spaniard joins Sergio Perez and Zhou Guanyu, who both took on new ICE’s on Friday.Â
Speaking ahead of the race at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend, Leclerc said that Ferrari had to improve their race performance for next year if they had a realistic chance of challenging Red Bull for the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.
While Leclerc has secured 10 pole positions so far in 2022, but won only three races as the team have struggled with both poor engine reliability and a series of questionable strategy decisions at crucial points of the season.
“It’s Sunday execution as a whole, it’s loads of things. It’s tyre management, as we’ve seen at the last races it is a weak point, communication, strategy, reliability,” Leclerc said.
“Just to be a stronger team on the Sunday and finalise the weekend in the strongest way possible because the Saturday is often very strong, but the Sunday, things often fall apart.”
