‘No serious damage’ found on Leclerc’s gearbox, final call on Sunday

Although the early feedback is promising, the Maranello outfit will not make a final decision on whether to replace the gearbox in Leclerc’s car until Sunday morning, just hours before the race.

Leclerc claimed a shock pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix but suffered a heavy crash exiting the Swimming Pool chicane on his final lap of Q3.

Despite recording its first pole since the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto insisted his side would not “gamble” on reliability.

“An initial inspection of the gearbox in Charles Leclerc’s car has not revealed any serious damage,” the team said in a statement on Saturday evening.

“Further checks will be carried out tomorrow, to decide if the same gearbox can be used in the race.”

Should Ferrari need to switch the gearbox on Leclerc’s car, he would be hit with an automatic five-place grid drop that would relegate him to sixth on the grid.

In that scenario, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen would inherit pole position for Sunday’s race, with Carlos Sainz moving up to third on the grid in the other Ferrari.