Ferrari investigation finds Leclerc’s crash did cause race-ending failure

Leclerc’s car was given the all-clear by Ferrari after an investigation into his qualifying crash on Saturday and following further checks on Sunday morning.

But the Monegasque driver reported an issue on his reconnaissance lap to the grid and subsequently returned to the garage.

Ferrari had to withdraw Leclerc’s car from his home race before the start having discovered that his left-rear driveshaft hub had failed.

Following a further investigation back at its Maranello factory, the Italian outfit confirmed it believes the driveshaft hub failure was a direct result of his Q3 crash.

The team chose not to replace the component because there was no visible damage due to the impact being on the right-hand side of Leclerc’s car.

It is understood that the driveshaft hubs are not normally included in the checklist of parts following this type of accident.

But Ferrari is set to change its procedures moving forward in a bid to detect such a problem in the future.

Directly after the race, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto admitted Leclerc’s failure could be linked to his crash in qualifying.

“It’s not a gearbox failure, that’s for sure, so it is not a matter of gambling with the gearbox itself,” he said.

"I think that all the inspections we made were rights, the gearbox was safe and working properly. It is something else. Is it a consequence or not? I don’t know, honestly, right now.

“Could we have detected it or not? Again it is something we need to analyse and eventually find an answer, but it was on completely the opposite side, on the other corner, but again maybe not related or maybe yes. That will be part of the analysis on the next days.”