The problems of charles leclerc in Monaco have continued after the Ferrari driver received a three-place grid penalty for blocking his McLaren rival Lando Norris during qualifying on the Saturday ahead of the Formula 1 Monaco GP.
leclerc He had qualified third, behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, but will now start in sixth position, moving up to Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, teammate Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. .
In a post-qualifying investigation, which included discussions with the two drivers involved, a thorough review of data, video footage and radio messages, the stewards determined that Leclerc had prevented norris during the final phase of the third trimester.
“leclerc he had finished his last lap of Q3 and was in the complex of turns 4 to 10, ”said the stewards’ report. “Norris was on a fast lap and he caught Leclerc in the middle of the tunnel and clearly held him back.”
“Both drivers agreed that there was little Leclerc could have done safely in the tunnel to avoid getting in the way. norrisgiven the difficulty of vision due to the entry of light into the tunnel and the change of lines from one side of the tunnel to the other”.
Indeed, the commissioners noted that leclerc he reacted sensibly to a blue flag displayed by the stewards, but by then it was too late. However, the stewards checked the team radio and Leclerc’s team gave him no warning of Norris’s approach until Norris was already directly behind him.
Also, the discussion during the earlier part of the track was focused entirely on the competing drivers, not the traffic behind, which is a critical task on this track.
“The stewards believe that Leclerc could have done much earlier in the tunnel to avoid the impediment if he had received a warning from the team at the appropriate time, especially considering that Norris’s approach was clear in the qualifying system.”
“Therefore, the stewards consider that the impediment was unnecessary. The stewards reviewed all the previous penalties that unnecessarily hindered in recent years. “In all cases, the team’s actions or inaction did not mitigate the unnecessary impediment. Therefore, the stewards impose the usual penalty of a fall of three grids.
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