Leclerc escapes grid penalty for Spanish GP after Ferrari survives 50G Monza crash

Charles Leclerc will take his regular grid position at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid after Ferrari confirmed his power unit survived the violent crash at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, avoiding the component change that would have triggered a penalty.

Leclerc retired on lap two at Monza after losing control of his SF-26 through the Parabolic corner at more than 230km/h. The incident was triggered by the car bouncing over a water drain while Leclerc was defending against McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, sending the Ferrari into the tyre barrier. The impact registered deceleration in excess of 50G.

Despite the severity of the shunt, Ferrari’s engineers found the power unit intact. The team will replace only the transmission casing ahead of the Madrid race, sparing Leclerc the grid drop that a full power unit change would have incurred.

The Spanish Grand Prix gives Ferrari another opportunity to evaluate its ADUO engine upgrade, which made its debut at Monza. The team has tempered expectations, however, confirming the upgrade is not a “game changer”.

Monza was a difficult weekend for Ferrari overall. The team collected just eight points, courtesy of Lewis Hamilton’s sixth-place finish, while Leclerc and Hamilton came close to colliding with each other on the opening lap before Leclerc’s retirement.

The results leave Ferrari 122 points adrift of championship leader Mercedes, who claimed victory at Monza through Kimi Antonelli. The win made Antonelli the first Italian driver to triumph at his home race since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966.