Multiple red flag restarts caused Ferrari power unit failure in Nico Hulkenberg's Haas in Australia
There have been questions surrounding the Ferrari power unit since the start of the season after Charles Leclerc's Energy Store was changed twice in Bahrain.
Another blow for the Italian team and their power unit came at the Australian GP when Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg's VF-23 came to a halt after an MGU-K failure at the end of the race. The German driver had to pull over after the chequered flag and walk back to the paddock.
According to Motorsport Italy, after a thorough investigation by Ferrari, it was found that the MGU-K broke in Hulkenberg's car, as it went outside the correct operating window in operating temperatures. Each component of the hybrid system has its own cooling system, which must undergo specific work cycles to ensure the expected life of various parts.
The stop-start nature of the 'chaotic' Australian GP caused the engines to experience extreme shifts in temperature. That meant that a series of procedures for the power unit components were not followed properly.
"I don’t want to say that it’s impossible, but it’s very difficult" - Ferrari team boss on producing new car
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has said that it will be very difficult for the team to produce a new car in the middle of the season due to budget cap restrictions. As per The Race, he said:
“To do a new project during the season, to start from scratch, to do a new car with the cost cap first but also considering the restriction of the wind tunnel time, I don’t want to say that it’s impossible, but it’s very difficult."
He continued:
“Also, on our side, we have the feeling – and I hope that we are right, and we are going in the right direction – that we have still tonnes of room for improvement on the car. As long as we are still able to develop the car to get points on the aero, to get a better balance, to get better stability and so on, I think it makes sense to push in this direction.”
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz also pointed out that they lag behind leaders Red Bull in every aspect:
“At the moment, Red Bull is superior everywhere. With the change of regulations, the car becoming slower, we thought that this was normal and the car would become a bit peakier. And we thought that with the compensations that we did, the targets were OK, and we were going to be fast."
It will be fascinating to see if the Italian team can catch up with Red Bull this season.