Fault which put Leclerc out before start "completely different" to Sainz's

Charles Leclerc says the problem which sent him into the barriers during the formation lap at the Brazilian Grand Prix is different to a fault his team mate experienced last week.

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His team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr experienced a hydraulic problem during the first practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix weekend. However Leclerc said the team understands the cause of his problem today and the two faults are not related.

“I haven’t gone into details with the guys but what they’ve seen is completely different and it’s not what happened to Carlos,” he told Sky.

Leclerc qualified second for today’s race but spun into the barriers at Ferradura when the fault struck. “I lost the steering wheel and I went straight, basically because I had no hydraulic any more,” he said, adding, “I don’t think it’s a hydraulic problem.

“I know what it is, I cannot go too much into detail. There was an engine thing that made me lock the rear wheels and then obviously I spun and hit the wall so I couldn’t do anything.”

The Ferrari driver successfully restarted his car after spinning and resumed. But his engine cut out soon afterwards and he was forced to retire.

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Leclerc’s radio messages from the formation lap

Leclerc	No, I lost the hydraulics. I lost the hydraulics. Why the fuck am I so unlucky? Why the fuck am I so unlucky? No hydraulics inside the car. Everything became super-hard. Can I… I’ll try to start again?
Marcos Padros	Sorry about that. We’ll come back to you.
Leclerc	The hydraulics came back.
Marcos Padros	Try to move. Try to move at the moment.
Leclerc	For fuck’s sake, still. Engine switched off.
Marcos Padros	Again? Okay.
Leclerc	Why am I so unlucky? Oh my God. Oh my fucking God.
Marcos Padros	Yeah, sorry about that.
Leclerc	Oh my fucking God