Charles Leclerc’s ageing power unit is unlikely to have contributed to his lack of performance against Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, it has been claimed.

After wins in the United States and Mexico last month, Ferrari were widely expected to be the team to beat on the streets of Vegas.

New Charles Leclerc team radio surfaces after disappointing Las Vegas Q3

However, Mercedes enjoyed a dominant weekend with George Russell winning from pole position and Lewis Hamilton recovering from 10th on the grid to complete a one-two finish.

Leclerc, meanwhile, was left frustrated at the end of the race after Sainz overtook him to take the final podium place, seemingly against the orders of the Ferrari pit wall.

The Monegasque was heard swearing repeatedly over team radio, claiming that he always loses out for “being nice” and “being respectful” to his team-mate.

Charles Leclerc vs Carlos Sainz: Ferrari head-to-head stats for F1 2024

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

A report in the Italian media has claimed that Leclerc and Sainz were both “immediately summoned”to the office of team principal Fred Vasseur after the race to clear the air ahead of the final two races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Ferrari remain in the hunt to claim a first World Championship of any kind since 2008, with the Scuderia trailing McLaren by 24 points entering the Qatar Grand Prix.

An untelevised clip from the Las Vegas GP weekend has unearthed a second X-rated team radio message unearthed by Leclerc, who was left aghast after a disappointing Q3 lap left him fourth on the grid, two spots and three tenths behind Sainz.

At the end of qualifying, Leclerc is heard saying: “******! ******! ****** lap! ******! Tyres felt completely different, I don’t know why. So much understeer. For ******!”

Rumours online had suggested that Leclerc’s poor result was due to his ageing power unit, with the number 16 car without a fresh engine since the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August.

Leclerc voiced concerns at the end of the previous race in Brazil that he would be forced to serve an engine penalty in Las Vegas.

However, it was said that the wet conditions at Interlagos had eased the strain on his power unit, allowing him to avoid a grid drop with Ferrari rotating elements from his existing pool of engine components.

A report by the Italian edition of Motorsport.com has claimed that Leclerc’s engine had no impact on his three-tenth deficit to Sainz in Vegas, with Ferrari aiming to see out the rest of F1 2024 without a grid drop for the number 16 car by maintaining their rotation policy with individual compoments.

It is said that Ferrari engineers have worked hard to limit the drop in performance imposed by an older engine, with an older power unit no more than 0.1 seconds per lap slower than a fresh engine.

The difference between a fresh engine and one towards the end of its life is estimated to be “no more” than “around 15 horsepower.”

Leclerc’s 0.3-second loss to Sainz around the Las Vegas would have equated to more than 45 horsepower if it was purely attributed by the engine, with Leclerc’s struggles with the tyres – and the understeer generated – a more likely culprit.

Furthermore, the report claims that Leclerc’s engine has only exceeded 3,00- kilometres with Ferrari power units designed to last closer to 5,000km.

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