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Stewards give Leclerc grid penalty of three places for sprint race

Stewards give Leclerc grid penalty of three places for sprint race

1 July 2023 at 13:31
Last update 1 July 2023 at 14:33
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  • Kada Sarkozi
  • Editor

Charles Leclerc has been given a three-place grid penalty by the stewards. The Ferrari driver has been found guilty of holding up Oscar Piastri in the Sprint Shootout. The Monegasque will now start the sprint race not sixth, but ninth.

Leclerc was in Piastri's way in the first part of the Sprint Shootout. Partly as a result, SQ1 was also directly the finishing line for the Australian rookie, where his teammate Lando Norris eventually finished third.

The stewards feel Ferrari's communication was deficient. "Accordingly we determine that although this was not entirely the fault of the driver, and that the team’s lack of communication was the major contributing factor. A grid position penalty must be imposed as Car 81 was 'unnecessarily impeded', because there is no doubt that the situation could have been avoided." 

Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon benefit from Leclerc's grid penalty. They all move up one place on Saturday afternoon.

Leclerc put back three places on the grid