Charles Leclerc handed additional punishment by FIA after Hungarian GP penalty
Charles Leclerc joined Ferrari from Sauber at the start of 2019
Charles Leclerc has had one penalty point added to his F1 superlicence after the FIA gave the Ferrari driver a five-second penalty for ‘erratic driving’ at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Leclerc endured a frustrating race in Budapest on Sunday, slipping from pole position to fourth despite comfortably leading the first stint of the race.
Charles Leclerc handed penalty point for ‘erratic driving’ at Hungarian Grand Prix
The Ferrari driver was accused of moving under braking by Mercedes’ George Russell as the pair battled over third place behind the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Leclerc was handed a five-second penalty for his aggressive defence, with the punishment having no effect on his finishing position in Hungary given his comfortable gap to Fernando Alonso in fifth place.
The FIA has announced that Leclerc has also been given a penalty points on his superlicence, putting the Ferrari star on one penalty point for the current 12-month window.
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Under F1’s penalty system, drivers automatically trigger a one-race ban if they accumulate 12 penalty points within a 12-month period.
Kevin Magnussen, the former Haas star, became the first driver to be banned under the system – originally introduced in 2014 – last season.
The stewards’ verdict in Hungary read: “The Stewards reviewed video, telemetry and in-car video evidence.
“Car 63 moved to overtake Car 16 on the inside into Turn 1. Car 16 moved towards Car 63 on the main straight before braking and subsequently moved a second time, now under braking, nearly causing a collision with Car 63.
“The Stewards consider both moves combined to constitute erratic driving.
“The Stewards took into account that Car 63 succeeded in overtaking Car 16 and that there was no contact and in these circumstances apply a less severe penalty than might have been applied in different circumstances.”
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Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s race, Leclerc acknowledged that his defensive tactics were “on the limit.”
And he could not resist a quip about Russell, commenting that he expected the Mercedes driver to be “quite vocal” with his complaints over team radio as usual.
Leclerc said: “I knew I was on the limit.
“I don’t have much [of an] opinion about it. I felt like I moved before braking and then I braked, obviously angling my car towards the apex, which is normally what I do.
“But I can imagine George being quite vocal on the radio. It’s normally the case.”
More on Charles Leclerc and George Russell from PlanetF1.com
Russell told media including PlanetF1.com: “Going down the straight at 330 [kilometres per hour] and you sort of dive into the corner, you’re right on the limit of your car’s grip.
“You can’t just brake and turn to avoid somebody because you’re already at the limit of that grip.
“So I made my intentions really clear, dive into the inside and he moved after he had committed to braking, which is not allowed in the rules.
“He did it once, I was unhappy about it.
“Second time, I was like: ‘Well, I’m going to just send it down the inside now.’
“And he did it again and we made contact.
“I was glad to get by. But I think when you watch on TV, you think: ‘Oh, why can’t you just turn to avoid it?’
“But as I said, you are right on the limit of the car’s potential.”
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