Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and Charles Leclerc all that Formula One has to solve a “serious issue.”
Everything Sports
Another familiar foe has appeared as drivers prepare for the first race on the F1 schedule in Bahrain: Loose drain covers. On Thursday, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was on the track when his car ran over a loose cover, though it appeared as if the car was not damaged too badly.
In the wake of the incident during testing, Leclerc said having loose drain covers is a “serious issue” and that the problem should be addressed quickly. “It’s a serious issue because it can have big consequences,” Leclerc said to Motorsport.com. “We have to look into it for the future, for it to not happen again.
“Yesterday we were quite lucky that it didn’t happen in a place and in a situation similar to Vegas, but in Vegas it was quite serious for Carlos [Sainz]. But I’m sure everybody is on it, and working on finding the best solution for that.”
Leclerc is referring to when Sainz, his Ferrari teammate, was testing at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Eight minutes into the first practice session, Sainz ran over a loose drain cover, causing massive damage to his power unit, chassis and other portions of his car.
Sainz was given a 10-place grid penalty and Ferrari was able to repair his car, despite how damaged it was. Since then, drivers have been appealing to the FIA to come up with a solution to address the issue sooner rather than later to avoid repeat incidences.
