Charles Leclerc, Ferrari Find a Way to Damage a Car Before a Race Starts

Over the past three years, Ferrari's Formula 1 team and lead driver Charles Leclerc have worked together to develop a shared reputation for mistakes in big moments. Picking the wrong tire, spinning at the worst possible time, and stopping on the exact lap that would effectively eliminate the team from contention are all somewhat common outcomes for the team and their driver these days, some sort of perfect storm of missteps and bad luck. Yesterday's troubles in qualifying were very much on brand for the team, but the issue Leclerc's car suffered before today's race even began is a new one.

On the pre-race grid, the Ferrari team swarmed around Leclerc's car in a panic to repair something on the floor structure. That was apparently a necessity to repair the car's legality plank, the mandated piece of wood or composite underneath the car meant to keep teams from violating ride height and other under-car aerodynamic rules in real time. The change was made, and Leclerc was able to start the race as expected, but it is not exactly a part that is regularly repaired during a race weekend at all, let alone after a car leaves the garage on race day but before the race actually begins.