Grid penalty for Charles Leclerc deals a blow to Ferrari hopes in F1 constructors’ title race

A grid penalty for Charles Leclerc leaves him and Ferrari needing an “amazing recovery” to beat McLaren to the Formula 1 constructors’ title.

Ferrari had to change the battery pack on Leclerc’s car on Friday in the first practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. That means a 10-place penalty on the grid for Sunday’s race.

Despite being exhausted after a bout of food poisoning, Leclerc was fastest in the first session by .221 of a second from McLaren’s Lando Norris, with Lewis Hamilton third fastest for Mercedes. Leclerc’s brother Arthur took over Carlos Sainz Jr.'s car and was 18th.

“Unfortunately, today on our side we’ve had a problem but I’m not wishing a problem to anybody else,” Leclerc said. “We’ll just focus on ourselves and try to do an amazing recovery on Sunday.”

Norris was fastest in the second session by .234 from teammate Oscar Piastri while Nico Hulkenberg was a surprise third fastest for Haas, .462 off the pace. Sainz was the fastest Ferrari in fourth.

McLaren goes into the race with a 21-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ standings. Even a one-two finish wouldn’t be enough for Ferrari if the McLarens were third and fourth.

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Either team can end a long wait. McLaren hasn’t won the lucrative prize for teams since 1998 and Ferrari’s last win was in 2008.

“Even with the penalty, I wouldn’t be surprised if we can see (Ferrari) very rapidly fighting for the front,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said. “So nothing changes. We keep remaining calm, focused and full of energy.”

Tension in the paddock

Two of F1’s top drivers are exchanging bitter personal attacks. All-time great Hamilton is bidding an emotional farewell to Mercedes. It’s all overshadowing the constructors’ title fight.

Despite Max Verstappen wrapping up his fourth driver title in Las Vegas two weeks ago, the Red Bull star is still the center of attention due to a feud with George Russell of Mercedes.

Russell branded Verstappen “a bully” and accused him of threatening behavior following a dispute between them in qualifying at the Qatar GP last week. Verstappen was pushed off pole position in Qatar in favor of Russell, and has said his rival lied to get him a penalty.

“Look, Max, he’s a very straight shooter. He just tells you exactly how he sees it,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Friday. “And obviously he had a large amount of frustration last weekend, the way things played out in a scenario that we haven’t seen before and a subsequent grid penalty.”

Verstappen was only 17th fastest in his only practice on Friday as he aims for his 10th race win of the season in Abu Dhabi.

The whole weekend will be a long goodbye for Hamilton as he leaves Mercedes, where he won six of his seven titles, to join Ferrari for 2025.

Hamilton is driving in Abu Dhabi with the names of 150 fans on his car as part of a “Thank you, Lewis” campaign by Mercedes.

The move to Ferrari was announced before the season and Hamilton admitted Thursday the prolonged farewell has been much more of a strain on his emotions than he expected. Hamilton is out of form and was pessimistic about finishing on a high after penalties and a puncture marred his race in Qatar.

Doohan leads new wave of rookies

Hamilton’s move to Ferrari shocked F1 when it was announced in February, and it set off a chain reaction of driver moves elsewhere.

Next year will have its largest influx of young drivers in years as established names switch teams or leave the grid.

One of the new faces is on the grid in Abu Dhabi after Alpine opted to give Jack Doohan an early taste of F1. He replaces Esteban Ocon for the last race of the season. Doohan, a 21-year-old Australian, is the son of motorcycle racing great Mick Doohan. He was 19th fastest in both practices Friday.

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