⚖️ Charles Leclerc: Austin DQ and 2 Brazil points lost at Ferrari

Stewards cost Ferrari two points in Brazil. In 2023 they disqualified Leclerc in Austin, and Ferrari accepted the plank measurement. 📌

By , sports desk · Desk editor Gustavs Ērkšķis-Kreicbergs · · 3 min read

Charles LeclercRULEDPhoto: Steffen Prößdorf · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Desaturated and cropped by MrScandal.

What we know

  • Stewards at the Brazilian Grand Prix gave Charles Leclerc a five-second penalty for contact with Liam Lawson, dropping him from seventh to eighth, per Crash.net and AOL.
  • RacingNews365 reports the penalty cost Ferrari and Leclerc two points.
  • On Oct. 22, 2023, stewards disqualified Leclerc from the United States Grand Prix for a rear skid outside the limits in Article 3.5.9 e), per the FIA stewards' document.
  • In that hearing Ferrari's representatives acknowledged the FIA's measurement was correct, the stewards' document records.
  • In 2010 the stewards fined Ferrari $100,000 over team orders at Hockenheim; the World Motor Sport Council confirmed the fine and the result stood.

Liam Lawson has taken a swipe at Charles Leclerc after Ferrari lost a place and points to a post-race penalty at the Brazilian Grand Prix, AOL reports. Lawson said he thought Leclerc's wing hit his tire, called it "exactly like his GP2 move in Abu Dhabi on Albon years ago" and added: "maybe it's his speciality." The stewards' verdict, quoted by Crash.net, is what counts on the scoreboard: five seconds added, seventh place became eighth.

Leclerc's side, per Crash.net: "It was on the limit but it's part of racing for me." He said he only learned after the race that he was under investigation. Ferrari have been here before, and the paperwork is public. MrMuscles pulled the rulings.

The rulings, newest first

01

São Paulo GP: five seconds, two points

The stewards found that Leclerc made contact with Lawson at turn 12, and that the contact let him get closer and overtake five corners later, Crash.net quotes the verdict as saying. They called the contact minor and gave five seconds instead of ten because of the wet conditions. Leclerc crossed the line 1.816 seconds clear of Lawson, so the penalty flipped the order. RacingNews365 reports it cost Ferrari and Leclerc two points and made little difference to the constructors' title, which Mercedes had sealed.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)
02

Austin 2023: Leclerc disqualified from the race

Stewards' document 65, dated Oct. 22, 2023, disqualified Car 16 for breaching Article 3.5.9 e): the rear skid was outside the permitted wear thresholds. Leclerc had started on pole and crossed the line sixth. The document records that Ferrari's representatives acknowledged the FIA's measurement was correct and said the wear was probably down to the bumpy track and a sprint schedule that cut setup time. The stewards replied that the onus is on the competitor to keep the car compliant, and imposed the standard penalty.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)

"the onus is on the competitor to ensure that the car is in compliance with the regulations at all times during an event."

FIA stewards, document 65, 2023 United States Grand Prix
03

Same race, same plank: Hamilton out too

Document 64, issued two minutes earlier, disqualified Lewis Hamilton, then at Mercedes and now Leclerc's Ferrari team-mate, on the identical article. Hamilton had finished second, just over two seconds behind Max Verstappen. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said in the team's report, as CNN quotes: "Others got it right where we got it wrong and there's no wiggle room in the rules."

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)
04

What the Austin result sheet shows

The official result lists both Hamilton and Leclerc as DQ with 0 points. Lando Norris moved up to second on 18 points and Carlos Sainz, Leclerc's team-mate at the time, to third on 15. Logan Sargeant went from 12th on the road to tenth and took his first F1 point. Verstappen won the 56-lap race with 25.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)
05

Hockenheim 2010: the $100,000 team-orders fine

Not a disqualification, but a stewards' ruling on the record. Ferrari were fined $100,000 after Felipe Massa let Fernando Alonso through for the German Grand Prix win; CNN reported the result was allowed to stand. On Sept. 8, 2010, the World Motor Sport Council confirmed the fine, added the FIA's costs and took no further action, per RaceFans. Ferrari denied that rules had been broken, per CNN.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)

The Austin case came with a view from the grid. Motorsport.com reported that Leclerc claimed there had been "zero wear" on his Ferrari on Friday night, and quoted Verstappen saying such things "only happen when you have a sprint weekend where everything is so rushed." The stewards had already ruled that the car's compliance was Ferrari's job.

Quick quiz · 3 questions

  1. On the record or still rumour?Stewards penalized Leclerc in Brazil and disqualified him and Hamilton in Austin in 2023; Ferrari accepted the FIA's plank measurement in that hearing.
  2. On the record or still rumour?Lawson's comparison to a GP2 move is his own view and no ruling covers it; Ferrari's response to the Brazil penalty beyond Leclerc's comments is not in the documents read.
  3. Which year?Stewards disqualified Leclerc from the US GP for a rear skid outside Article 3.5.9 e) limits

More games on the record: Price Tag · Timeline

By the numbers

  • 3y 1mfrom first to latest entry on recordOct 2023 to Nov 2026, 2 dated entries in the file
  • 11receipts behind this story8 news reports, 2 regulator records, 1 public record, 2010 to 2026

Counted by MrScandal from the receipts, the Files and our rankings.

The Charles Leclerc file

Last entry Nov 2026
  1. Ruled

    Stewards gave Leclerc a five-second penalty at the São Paulo GP for contact with Liam Lawson; he was classified eighth. This story

  2. Ruled

    Stewards disqualified Leclerc from the US GP for a rear skid outside Article 3.5.9 e) limits. This story

On file: The Charles Leclerc file · The Ferrari file · The Lewis Hamilton file

The Ledger

On the record

  • Stewards penalized Leclerc in Brazil and disqualified him and Hamilton in Austin in 2023; Ferrari accepted the FIA's plank measurement in that hearing.

Still rumour

  • Lawson's comparison to a GP2 move is his own view and no ruling covers it; Ferrari's response to the Brazil penalty beyond Leclerc's comments is not in the documents read.

That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MrMuscles

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