Leclerc is NOT disqualified from Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but Ferrari fined €50,000
Charles Leclerc has avoided disqualification from Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after it was reported that there was "a significant difference between the declaration of the team and the amount of fuel inside the car." The result means Leclerc keeps his podium. Ferrari has been fined €50,000 for the inaccurate fuel declaration.
Leclerc and Ferrari visited the stewards at around 3.45pm (UK time) and over three hours after the race, the stewards have come to a decision. An extra 5kg of fuel was added before the Grand Prix and Mattia Binotto says this was down to a "measurement discrepancy."
“I don’t think there is very much to explain. There has been a discrepancy between measurements. We are simply waiting for a decision and we don’t know much. We believe that our measurements are all correct. So there is one measurement which is not correct," Binotto said prior to the announcement.
Although Leclerc avoided a penalty himself, it was a disaster in the desert for Ferrari and ends what has been a troubling season for the Italians. Just one race ago, Leclerc and his teammate Sebastian Vettel collided in Brazil. Leclerc keeps his 15 points but that doesn't affect the final standings in the F1 world championship.