Charles Leclerc and Ferrari hit a bump (literally) on Day 2 of the 2024 pre-season testing in Bahrain. Leclerc’s car hit a drain cover on the adjoining curb of the entry to Turn 11 on the Bahrain International circuit. This caused significant damage to the floor of the #16 car, and the Italian team has had to replace it. The incident also caused a red flag to the morning testing session on Day 2. As per Diario AS, an F1 car’s floor costs around $126,000. So, it is certainly not a welcome expense for the Scuderia so early in the 2024 season.
The morning session on Day 2 ended about an hour early due to the red flag after Leclerc’s drain cover incident. The FIA stewards have rescheduled the remaining one-hour running to the afternoon session.
So, the second half of the day will be a longer test session spanning 5 hours instead of 4. The additional 10 minutes of the planned safety car procedural checks will happen toward the end of the second day.
This is not the first time, though, that Ferrari has faced such a situation where a drain cover has damaged their car floor badly. Last year at the Las Vegas GP, Carlos Sainz also hit a drain cover on a long straight of the Vegas track. This not only damaged the underside of his car’s floor, but the team also had to change his engine components.
However, despite this damage handicapping Sainz and Ferrari, the FIA penalized the Spaniard with the standard 10-place penalty for additional power unit parts. Given Sainz’s car had suffered enough damage to set the team back, the grid penalty was opposed by many and, of course, the Maranello team.
Ferrari’s Vegas history with drain covers may not exactly repeat in Bahrain
Ferrari is still fighting with the Las Vegas GP organizers to get some compensation for its damages from the drain cover incident. Team boss Frederic Vasseur cited that they “are still discussing it,” given it was a significant expense for them, changing so many damaged components through no fault of their own.
Naturally, given it was the track that caused the damage, the race organizers will naturally be responsible. In the cost cap era, where each part costs a portion of the allocated budget, the Italian team cannot compromise on letting go of such uneventful damages.
Back then, many team bosses spoke about how it was unfair for Carlos Sainz and Ferrari. However, Toto Wolff highlighted that it was not fair to criticize the race organizers so much, given it was a one-off incident in free practice.
While Wolff was sympathetic to Ferrari’s damages, he cited that the teams are responsible for checking such things beforehand. Given Mercedes was in a fight with Ferrari for P2 in the standings; he would welcome such a penalty for his rival team’s drivers for getting the strategic advantage.
Cut to Bahrain testing in 2024, Charles Leclerc may not have to worry about a penalty. Given it is only pre-season testing, teams can change and alter any parts they wish to. It is free reign for them to experiment with new setups and parts to help them zero in on their new cars for the season.
However, given the cost cap, this early pre-season damage certainly is not helping Ferrari’s cost cap for this season.
