FIA confirm Charles Leclerc punishment for Canada qualifying error

Charles Leclerc

FIA confirm Leclerc punishment for Canada qualifying error

He re-entered the track incorrectly.

Matthew Scott

Sunday 9 June 2019 00:22

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Charles Leclerc escaped a grid penalty after qualifying third for the Canadian Grand Prix, despite falling foul of the FIA's unsafe re-entry rules during Saturday's action. Leclerc went the wrong way around a bollard after going off-track at Turn 9 but only saw his relevant Q2 lap time deleted.

Similar incidents in practice had also been met with warnings, but the stewards had noted that they would consider stricter punishment in qualifying and the race.

That gave Ferrari an anxious wait to see if Leclerc would keep hold of his second-row spot, behind pole-sitting team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

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The stewards noted that Leclerc would have been given a time penalty had the incident happened in the race, serving as a warning for the whole grid come Sunday.

Starting P3 tomorrow. Congratulations to Seb and to the whole team for the pole position. Tomorrow is the race and I'll give it all. pic.twitter.com/FCkhqEwCXT
— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) June 8, 2019

However, Leclerc escaped stronger punishment as stewards noted he "recognised his error and aborted his lap in order not to gain a sporting advantage".

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