Ferrari punished as Liam Lawson incidents spark double FIA investigation
Liam Lawson has had a few run ins with the FIA over the course of his F1 career
Ferrari has been given a formal warning by the FIA for impeding Liam Lawson on Friday at the Monaco Grand Prix.
And Lawson himself has escaped a penalty after crossing the red light at the end of the pit lane in a separate incident in FP1.
Ferrari given formal warning as Liam Lawson escapes penalty
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Ferrari enjoyed an impressive Friday in Monte Carlo, where Leclerc topped the opening practice session before being classified second to teammate Lewis Hamilton in FP2.
Leclerc was involved in an impeding incident with Lawson at Turn 18 – more commonly known as La Rascasse – in FP1.
It has emerged that Leclerc was caught up in a misunderstanding with the Ferrari pit wall, which informed him: “Three seconds to Bearman, five seconds to Lawson.”
Leclerc assumed that this team radio call meant there was a five-second gap between Bearman and Lawson when in fact there were only two seconds between the Haas and the Racing Bulls car.
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Following an investigation, the FIA has announced that Ferrari has been handed an official warning with the team vowing to work on its communication procedures to prevent future mixups.
The stewards’ report read: “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, team radio and in-car video evidence.
“As Car 30 was approaching Car 16 the team advised the driver of Car 16 ‘3 seconds to Bearman, 5 seconds to Lawson. This was an accurate statement.
“However the driver of Car 16 reasonably assumed that this meant there was a 5 second gap between Bearman and Lawson when in fact there was only a 2 second gap.
“This misunderstanding was ultimately responsible for the unnecessary impeding.
“The team agreed that it would revise its communication protocols to minimise the future risk of misunderstandings.”
It marks the second time this weekend that Leclerc has been called to the stewards having also been summoned for arriving late to Thursday’s FIA press conference in Monte Carlo.
That breach saw Ferrari handed a suspended fine of €5,000, with McLaren given an identical punishment after Lando Norris was also late to the press conference.
Meanwhile, Lawson has escaped punishment for an incident in FP1, which saw him cross the pit exit line despite a red light showing.
Television pictures showed Lawson crossing the pit exit just as the light at the end of the pit lane turned red.
The stewards’ report for that incident read: “The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 30, team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, team radio and in-car video evidence.
“The driver was warned he had 7 seconds left when he left the garage.
“He then travelled down the pit lane, and the green light changed to red when he was approximately 0.8 seconds from crossing the pit lane exit.
“He then reported over the team radio that he had been focusing on the countdown clock which is located above the pit exit, which still showed two seconds remaining before the light turned red.
“The Stewards note that this countdown clock is not official and does not override the red light at the pit exit.
“There is no official synchronization between the countdown clock and red light at pit exit.
“The Stewards also note that considering the driver had less than a second to react, had he tried to stop he might have ended up coming to a halt on a live track.
“In view of the above mitigating circumstances, no penalty will be imposed.”
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