The summons from the Stewards
Shortly after the end of the Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, Leclerc was summoned by the Stewards for driving unnecessarily slowly on the out lap of the last Q3 attempt.
The Monegasque and a Ferrari representative were called at 18:15 to answer for the potential infraction.
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Ferrari, imperfect execution
The matter ended with a reprimand against Ferrari. But it is interesting to highlight how Charles Leclerc risked a penalty due to an error by the Cavallino pit wall.
In fact, Leclerc was completely blameless in the incident, as Ferrari had communicated an incorrect delta time to their driver, the result of a miscalculation. A time which – evidently – was slower than the minimum lap time to be kept on track.
The FIA’s reasoning for the reprimand
“The Stewards heard the driver of Car 16 (Charles Leclerc), the team representative, and examined video evidence, timing data, telemetry, and onboard footage. The driver of Car 16 returned to the pits after setting his final lap time in Q3 without interference from other cars and did not comply with the delta time requirements. During the hearing, the team representative admitted to providing the driver with an incorrect delta time profile due to a calculation error. Therefore, the driver complied with the delta displayed on his dashboard, but since this delta time was incorrect, he inadvertently violated the delta time requirements.
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The Stewards determine that in this case the fault lies solely with the team and that the driver made no error. Therefore, a sanction is imposed on the team. The Stewards also take into account that in this scenario the deviated delta time provided to the driver had no impact on the performance of Car 16 or any other car.”
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