Charles Leclerc avoids a penalty following his collision with Sergio Perez
Charles Leclerc did not receive any penalty following his collision with Sergio Perez at the first corner. The Monegasque driver retained his third position and secured his fourth podium of the season. On the other hand, Perez now only holds a 20-point lead over Lewis Hamilton, who is currently third in the championship.
Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez had a good appointment at the first corner of the Mexican Grand Prix last Sunday. While the Ferrari driver started from pole position, he found himself sandwiched between the two Red Bulls before colliding with the Mexican’s Red Bull, who was attempting to turn a little early.
The front wing of Ferrari No. 16 was damaged and the left vertical flap was hanging during the first four laps before detaching and triggering a virtual safety car. This VSC allowed the marshals to remove the piece. During the laps when the Monegasque’s front wing was damaged, the marshals did not display the orange circle on a black background flag, forcing him to return to his pit stop to repair his car.
While Perez retired at the end of the first lap, Charles Leclerc managed to secure a third place finish in the Mexican Grand Prix, earning his fourth podium of the season, following Azerbaijan, Austria, and Belgium.
Leclerc escapes a sanction.
Following this collision, the FIA stewards launched an investigation and, in their end-of-race report, decided not to penalize Charles Leclerc. The FIA declared in their post-race statement: “« The team representative explained that after the contact between car 16 and car 11 in turn 1, lap 1, the team monitored the situation and was unable to determine the severity of the situation. »”
Translate : « However, they did not expect the piece to detach. He tried to check the situation from the live television, but couldn’t find any appropriate video. However, on the third round, they noticed a serious deterioration of the data and were about to take action when the piece detached. »
The FIA recently clarified a procedure regarding the detachments of Formula 1 wings. As of October 2022, it was unanimously agreed upon by the teams and the FIA, and this decision was confirmed in January 2023, that the location where the piece lands should not be considered as “dangerous”.
Therefore, detaching the piece of fin is not considered to make the car a “dangerous” car, and there is therefore no need to take further action.
