Major blow for Ferrari as Haas complete investigation into Nico Hulkenberg's post-race stoppage in Australia

Ferrari have been handed yet another blow to the reliability of their Power Unit package after Haas completed their own investigation into Nico Hulkenberg's post-race stoppage at the 2023 F1 Australian GP.

Haas, one of two customer teams of Ferrari's on the grid this season, was fearful of missing out on the points altogether in what was a chaotic and eventful race at Albert Park last weekend. Luckily for the American outfit, the chequered flag fell just as Hulkenberg voiced his concerns on the team radio.

However, the German was asked to park his VF-23 moments after the race was over and was not even able to nurse the car back into the pitlane to celebrate his P7 finish in the race.

According to a report published by German outlet Auto Motor und Sport (AMuS), Haas have been able to confirm that the stoppage was caused by an MGU-K failure in the power unit supplied by Ferrari.

The Scuderia already suffered a power unit failure in the season opener in Bahrain when Charles Leclerc looked set to finish in P3. This was followed by a 10-place grid penalty for the Monegasque driver in Jeddah for taking on a third control electronics component for the Power Unit in his car.

Both Haas and Alfa Romeo also fitted new Internal Combustion Engines for the third round of the 2023 season, dipping into their overall allocation of three for the entire season so early on.

It remains to be seen what the Scuderia will do during the course of the spring break to try and remedy this issue ahead of the fourth race weekend of the season in Baku.

Considering the fast-paced and power-hungry nature of the venue and the fact that it will host the first of six sprint races this season, Ferrari will need to find a solution soon in Maranello. They will then need to bring it with them in time for the race weekend in Azerbaijan.

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Ferrari unable to set up their car for equal performance in qualifying and race trim, as per German F1 pundit

Ferrari are struggling to set up their car in a manner that allows the team to be equally strong in qualifying and race trim, according to F1 pundit Michael Schmidt.

Last year, the Scuderia squandered their best chance at a title since 2008 with reliability issues, driver errors, and poor strategic calls. They came into the 2023 season with a new team principal and revised philosophy with hopes of taking the fight to Red Bull with a car that they believe is faster on the straights.

However, after three races, Ferrari are without a podium finish, while Red Bull have managed to win each round of the championship thus far. The Scuderia's misery has been further compounded by the fact that even Aston Martin and Mercedes have leapfrogged them into second and third in the standings, respectively.

According to Michael Schmidt from the German outlet Auto Motor und Sport (AMuS) the team has faith in its car concept but is unable to maximize its full potential over the course of a race weekend. He said:

"Ferrari is not questioning their concept. They want to continue the development. The problem I see with Ferrari is that they don't make the best use of their package. It will take time for them to understand how to get the most potential out of it. You get the impression that the SF-23 could do more, but Ferrari is not able to bring it out. If you look at the lap times in qualifying, they are not bad."

Frederic Vasseur and his cohorts will soon need to strike balance in this regard if they are to remain relevant in the title battle. Should they fail to do so in the next few rounds of the championship, the title charge may be over even before it got started for the Italians.