FIA stewards 'admit Ferrari star should have had penalty' but dangerous driving offence goes unpunished

Photo: © IMAGO

FIA

FIA stewards 'admit Ferrari star should have had penalty' but dangerous driving offence goes unpunished

Lewis Hamilton was given a penalty, but Charles Leclerc was not

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 24 July 2026 18:45

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FIA race stewards have reportedly agreed that Ferrari star Charles Leclerc should have received a penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend.

F1 drivers met with the FIA ahead of this weekend's Hungarian GP, to discuss the Drivers' Standards Guidelines and whether any changes are needing to be made to that for 2027.

Two of the big discussion points reportedly involved incidents from last weekend, which both involved Ferrari drivers.

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Lewis Hamilton was given a five-second penalty for a lap one collision with George Russell at turn five, which saw Russell go spinning off into the gravel and out of the race.

A distraught Russell said after the race that it was just a 'racing incident', hinting that he did not think Hamilton should be penalised, but the seven-time champion was given the five-second penalty which all but ended his chances of winning the race.

Meanwhile, Leclerc and Oscar Piastri were also involved in an incident at turn five a few laps after Hamilton and Russell and, despite Piastri receiving damage to his MCL40 and suggesting that there was no way he could have got out of the way of Leclerc's SF-26, Leclerc avoided a penalty for the incident.

Now, the meeting between stewards and drivers ahead of the Hungarian GP has produced an admission from stewards that Leclerc should have been penalised.

Should Leclerc have received a penalty?

Reports suggest that there was some lengthy debate in the meeting about the Leclerc incident, and it is understood that the FIA stewards accepted that in hindsight Leclerc’s actions were worthy of a five-second penalty.

No action will be taken in retrospect, with the result of the Belgian GP remaining unchanged, but the admission could be significant for future rulings.

It is being reported that the Hungary meeting also included discussions over some minor tweaks to the Drivers' Standards Guidelines, tweaks which will be finalised in a follow-up meeting later in the year, ready for the 2027 season.

Leclerc said ahead of the Hungarian GP weekend about the incident: "At the end of the day my view in the car is that I try to push the things to the limit.

"I think with Oscar it was a bit on the other side - so that's probably not the way I want to race all the time. It's also risky for me at the end of the day.

"You're always trying to leave the smallest place available. That was maybe a bit too sketchy."