Ferrari replace Leclerc's power unit 'as a precaution' after Vettel's FP2 failure

Sebastian Vettel's second practice session on Friday ended when his car ground to a halt out on track with fluids streaming out of the rear after his power unit failed. On Saturday Ferrari confirmed that as well as replacing the German's internal combustion engine, turbo and MGU-H, they had also done the same with Charles Leclerc's car.

Vettel's issue saw him stop at Copse corner and a Virtual Safety Car was triggered to allow marshals to retrive his stranded SF1000. He said after the session that there was no sign of any trouble before the failure.

“[I had] no warning,” said Vettel. “It was very sudden and obviously a failure so now we have to see what it is. But it will probably take a couple of days because the engine will get shipped back and analysed."

The team replaced Vettel's unit, and confirmed on Saturday as FP3 got underway that they had done the same with his team mate's car "as a precaution".

"After yesterday's engine failure on [Vettel]'s car, as a precaution we have changed [Leclerc]'s PU. This is also penalty free as we have not exceeded the number of components allowed in the regulations," the team said.

In the third practice session they encountered no such problems, with Leclerc posting the sixth-quickest time, and Vettel down in 13th.

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