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Leclerc drops to 8th following penalty

NEWS STORY
03/05/2026

Charles Leclerc has been handed a 20s penalty for leaving the track on several occasions without a justifiable reason.

The Stewards heard from the Ferrari driver and his team representative after he spun on the last lap at Turn 3 and hit the wall but continued on track.

Leclerc informed the stewards that the car appeared fine save that the car would not negotiate the right-hand corners properly.

Given this problem, he was forced to cut chicanes on the way to the chequered flag.

The stewards determined that the fact that he had to cut the chicanes (i.e. to leave the track) meant that he gained a lasting advantage by leaving the track in that manner.

The fact that he had a mechanical issue of some sort did not amount to a justifiable reason.

The stewards accordingly imposed a drive through penalty, given the number of times the car left the track and gained an advantage.

They also considered whether there was an additional breach in continuing to drive a car with an obvious and discernible mechanical issue. However, they determined that there was no evidence of there being an obvious of discernible mechanical issue and therefore took no further action in relation to that potential infringement.

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READERS COMMENTS

 

1. Posted by Kkiirmki, 3 hours ago

"A ridiculous penalty. It was quite clear that he was struggling to turn the car and wasn't intentionally going off track. He was 4th before he hit the wall after his spin and then finished (originally) in 6th place. How did he gain any advantage?"

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