Ferrari entered the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend with the pressure of closing a 21-point gap to McLaren in the Constructors' Championship standings.

However, things didn’t go smoothly in the opening practice session as Charles Leclerc had to stay in the garage for the first 20 minutes due to a suspected battery problem.

The team worked quickly to fix it, but Leclerc missed out on valuable track time. Fortunately, he was able to go out later and even shared some laps with his younger brother, Arthur, and even set the fastest time of the session at the end.

Unfortunately, the problems didn’t end there. To fix the issue, Ferrari had to replace the energy store on Leclerc’s car. Since he had already used up his allowed two energy stores for the season, this meant he had to use a third, which brought a 10-place grid penalty.

This puts Ferrari in a tough spot in their fight for the Constructors' title, making an already difficult task even harder. Leclerc will now have to work his way through the grid if Ferrari wants to keep their championship hopes alive.

Leclerc admitted that Ferrari now needs a perfect weekend to have any chance of winning the title. With just 21 points between the Scuderia and McLaren, Leclerc will need to perform at his best, while also hoping for some issues for the Woking-based team.