Charles Leclerc has been handed a 5s penalty for causing a collision with Liam Lawson.

The Monegasque and the New Zealander made contact at Turn 1, and while the contact was minor and the RB driver was able to maintain the lead thereafter, Lawson claimed that the contact damaged the rear left rim of his car and also enabled Leclerc to get closer to him on track and then eventually overtake him five corners later.

Furthermore, under the Driving Standard Guidelines, Lawson had the right to the corner and it was for Leclerc to take the necessary steps to avoid a collision.

Leclerc claimed that it was a minor contact with no obvious sporting consequence, and while the stewards acknowledged that the contact was minor, having examined the fight on track between the two cars, they concluded that the Ferrari driver was able to get closer to and thereafter overtake Lawson because of the contact.

The contact clearly disrupted the Racing Bull and allowed Leclerc 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.

Nonetheless, the penalty saw Leclerc demoted to 8th position, behind Lawson.

Meanwhile, in another incident involving the Monegasque, Oliver Bearman was released from his pit stop into the path of the Ferrari driver, who was already proceeding along the pit lane.

As a result, Leclerc was forced to brake and take evasive action, being squeezed towards the pit wall on the right-hand side.

The Stewards determined that Bearman was released in an unsafe manner and imposed a 5 second time penalty, however this had no impact on his finishing position.