Charles Leclerc’s troubles in Monaco have continued after the Ferrari driver received a three-place grid penalty for blocking his McLaren rival Lando Norris during Saturday’s qualifying session.
Leclerc had qualified third, behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, but will now drop to sixth, moving up to Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, teammate Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and Lewis’ Mercedes. hamilton.
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In a post-qualifying investigation, which included discussions with the two drivers involved, a comprehensive review of data, video footage and radio messages, the stewards determined that Leclerc had impeded Norris during the final phase of the third quarter.
“Leclerc had finished his last lap of Q3 and was in the complex of turns 4 to 10,” the stewards’ report said. “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 Norris’s way, given the difficulty of seeing due to light coming into the tunnel and changing lines from one side of the tunnel to the other. tunnel. .
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“Indeed, the stewards noted that Leclerc 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 entirely about the drivers competing, 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’ 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.