FIA confirms Charles Leclerc punishment after ‘F2’ move on Liam Lawson

Charles Leclerc has received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Liam Lawson at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Compared to a move from the Monegasque’s junior racing days in a blunt Lawson verdict, the punishment drops Leclerc behind the New Zealander to eighth in the final Brazilian Grand Prix classification.

Charles Leclerc receives five-second penalty after FIA investigation

Leclerc, on the inside line into Juncao, rubbed wheels with his Racing Bulls rival as they exited the uphill left-hander.

It was enough to unsettle Lawson, with the Ferrari driver taking the place as they navigated the Senna S at the end of the long front straight.

“Rubbing is racing” was the verdict from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the post-race cooldown room, but the FIA stewards wanted to take a closer look at that incident.

Their verdict was a five-second penalty for Leclerc, a decision which swaps the Ferrari driver and Lawson around in the final classification.

Lawson had made his feelings clear on Leclerc’s move when he spoke with the media post-race.

“I think it was his wing that hit my tyre. So I think we got really lucky.

“I feel like it was exactly like his GP2 move to Abu Dhabi, like on [Alex] Albon years ago.

“He did the same kind of thing, so maybe it’s his specialty. I don’t know if it’s legal or not. We’ll obviously go and review it, but it was a good battle overall.”

The decision explanation reads: “The stewards heard from the driver of Car 16 (Charles Leclerc), the driver of Car 30 (Liam Lawson), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video and in-car video evidence and determined that Car 16 made contact with Car 30 at Turn 12.

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“While the contact was minor and Car 30 was able to maintain the lead thereafter, the driver of Car 30 claimed that the contact damaged the rear left rim of his car and also enabled Car 16 to get closer to him on track and then eventually overtake him 5 corners later.

“Furthermore, under the Driving Standard Guidelines, Car 30 had the right to the corner and it was for Car 16 to take the necessary steps to avoid a collision.

“The driver of Car 16 claimed that it was a minor contact with no obvious sporting consequence.

“While we acknowledge that the contact was minor, having examined the fight on track between the two cars, we conclude that Car 16 was able to get closer to and thereafter overtake Car 30 because of the contact. The contact clearly disrupted Car 30 and allowed Car 16 to pull up alongside when it was further away before the contact. This was an obvious sporting consequence.

“In mitigation, the wet conditions coupled with the nature of the contact (ie minor) was taken into account in imposing a 5-second time penalty as opposed to a 10-second time penalty.”

Ferrari saw its mathematical Constructors’ Championship hopes come to an end in Sao Paulo, as Mercedes confirmed its return to the summit with a title double.

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