Heavy penalty
The final decision of the stewards on the track cuts committed by Charles Leclerc during the last lap of the Miami GP arrived around 11:30 PM (Italian time), after the spin and the slight hit against the wall that probably caused damage to the suspensions and the left side of the car, making it difficult for Ferrari’s #16 to drive his SF-26 normally. The stewards used a heavy hand, penalizing Leclerc with 20 seconds: the Monegasque was given the equivalent of a drive-through penalty which dropped him from sixth to eighth in the final classification.
Read more Verstappen: “Win without spin? No, I didn’t lose 40 seconds, maybe I could have reached the podium”
In the traditional penalty explanation document, the stewards reported the version provided by Leclerc, who explained that “the car seemed fine, except that it couldn’t properly take right-hand corners“. This problem led Leclerc to cut several corners, failing to take them correctly; however, the stewards did not consider this a mitigating factor and harshly penalized this behavior: “We have established – the note reads – that the fact of having to cut the chicanes (i.e., leaving the track) gave him a lasting advantage. The fact that he had some kind of mechanical problem does not constitute a justifiable reason. Therefore, we impose a Drive Through penalty on car no. 16, considering the number of times the car left the track and gained an advantage“.
New document: Doc 97 – Infringement – Car 16 – Leaving the track multiple times and driving in an unsafe condition
Published on 03.05.26 23:24 CET#F1 #Formula1 #FIA #MiamiGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Kl0gCVoskQ— FIA F1 Documents Bot (@fiadocsbot) May 3, 2026
In fact, Leclerc risked receiving an even harsher penalty. In the document published by the FIA, the stewards wrote that they considered imposing an additional sanction on the Monegasque for completing a lap in potentially unsafe conditions: “We also evaluated whether there was a further violation in continuing to drive a car with an obvious and perceptible mechanical problem – the note reads – we established that there was no evidence of the existence of an obvious or perceptible mechanical problem. Therefore, we did not take further action regarding this potential infraction“.
Read more Ferrari is not there: Leclerc is not enough
The Hamilton precedent at Singapore 2025
The penalty given to Leclerc is therefore very severe, but overall it can be considered correct, if not for a practically identical precedent dating back to the Singapore GP last season that was evaluated differently. In that case, a Ferrari was also involved: Lewis Hamilton drove very slowly in the last laps of the race due to a brake problem and on the last lap cut several corners, exactly as Leclerc did in Miami. However, in the British driver’s case, his penalty was only 5 seconds. What is puzzling is that the stewards’ document is very similar in explaining the penalty: “During the hearing – it was written on that occasion – the driver confirmed that he went off track several times. He was trying to manage a brake problem. That said, following further investigations and in accordance with the list of exceptions provided in the Driving Standards Guidelines, the stewards considered that this was not a justifiable reason and applied the penalty provided for this type of infraction. This was not contested by either the team representative or the driver”. Of the four stewards present in Singapore 2025, only one, Natalie Corsmit, was also present on Sunday in Miami.
The only reason for the harsher judgment against Leclerc can therefore be attributed to the now infamous ‘Guidelines’. In section D, dedicated to track limits, it reads as follows: “Respecting track limits is considered important both for race fairness and safety; therefore, article B1.8.6 will be applied strictly: ‘Drivers must make every reasonable effort to stay on track at all times and may not leave the track without a justified reason. Drivers will be considered to have left the track if no part of the car remains in contact with it and, to avoid doubt, the white lines defining the edges of the track are considered part of the track, but the curbs are not…’“. In summary, therefore, Leclerc seems to be paying for a sort of ‘crackdown’ on the issue of track limits compared to how the issue was evaluated until last year.
Read more Official: 5-second penalty – irrelevant – for Verstappen for not respecting the pit exit line
