Image by Joe Portlock/LAT
Leclerc crash damage ruled out test return
Charles Leclerc’s car was too heavily damaged during his crash in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday to allow Ferrari to repair it in time to run again.
Soon after completing 100 laps on the second day of the Pirelli tire test at the Yas Marina Circuit, Leclerc caused the only red flag of the two-day test by crashing at Turn 13. Leclerc went off on the outside of the track with a little over two hours remaining and Ferrari says the damage was too significant to be repaired in time for any more significant running to take place.
“He emerged unscathed, however there was quite a bit of damage to the SF90,” the team wrote. “Once the extent of the work required to get it track worthy again had been assessed with the car back in the garage, it was decided to call a halt to the Abu Dhabi test.”
The team also confirmed that it was driver error that caused the crash, with Leclerc taking too much curb and ending up in the barrier, but the 22-year-old says it was still a productive day as he ended up second fastest overall.
“This was our last day on track and I think it was useful, despite the accident which meant I had to stop early,” Leclerc said. “We did a lot of comparison testing of the 2020 tires up against this year’s and acquired a lot of data which will now be analyzed in depth.
“Now we can switch off for a while, but I will never forget my first season with Scuderia Ferrari and I’m sure that it won’t be long until I want to be back on track.”
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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