F1 News
Stewards reach verdict on Leclerc investigation!
During SQ2, Charles Leclerc did not meet the maximum allowed delta time between the safety car lines, which prompted an investigation into the Ferrari driver. The Stewards have now issued their verdict.
Where it went wrong for Leclerc
Having heard Leclerc, Ferrari's team representative and reviewed all pertinent evidence the Stewards find that there nothing irreprehensible with the Monegasque's driving.
Havins started their preparation laps, he and teammaye Lewis Hamilton were fairly close to each other as the Stewards' document acknowledges. Furthermore, they encountered Lance Stroll, also on a preparation lap, and with the team coming on the radio instructing him to let Hamilton overtake him, Leclerc had to slow down even more.
Nevertheless the Stewards do recognise that: "LEC at all times maintained a reasonable speed and ultimately sought to create a reasonable gap behind HAM. All of this was done in an orderly fashion and no car behind LEC was affected by this. Therefore LEC did not impede other drivers and gained no sporting advantage by his course of action."
No further action on Leclerc investigation
"The Stewards therefore determine that LEC did not drive unnecessarily slow, and that evidently the reason that he was above the maximum time was due to his appropriate actions and take no further action."
