Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc cops three-place penalty for Monaco F1 Grand Prix mistake

Charles Leclerc has been penalised for the Monaco Grand Prix after embarrassing details emerged over the team’s radio.

Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco. Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Ferrari’s dreadful 2023 Formula 1 season is showing no signs of slowing down.

The once-mighty Italian team has just one podium from six races to date, Charles Leclerc’s third place at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in April.

Leclerc holds 34 points from six races to sit seventh in the standings, with teammate Carlos Sainz marginally better in fifth place (44 points), already falling well behind leading Red Bull pair Max Verstappen (119 points) and Sergio Perez (105).

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The prancing horse’s season took yet another hit in Monaco qualifying, with local hope Leclerc initially finishing third behind Verstappen and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in a somewhat promising outcome.

His hopes were then rocked when he was handed a three-place grid penalty by the stewards for impeding Lando Norris in a tunnel section of the track.

The Ferrari driver appeared to slow in the tunnel as Norris approached from behind on a flying lap in the third and final qualifying round, forcing the British driver to take evasive action.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (right) initially had third place before being demoted by the stewards. Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Leclerc drops down to sixth place on the grid, while Norris will start from tenth for Sunday’s night’s race. The penalty did at least promote Sainz one place up to fourth.

“Leclerc had finished his final lap of Q3 and was in the Turn 4 through Turn 10 complex,” it says in the FIA stewards report.

“Norris was on a fast lap and caught Leclerc in the middle of the tunnel and was clearly impeded.

“Both drivers agreed that there was little that Leclerc could have safely done in the tunnel to avoid impeding Norris, given the difficulty in vision due to the light entering and in the tunnel and the change of lines from one side of the tunnel to the other.

“In fact, the Stewards observed that Leclerc reacted in a sensible way to a blue flag displayed by the marshals, but at this point it was too late.”

The blame from officials and fans alike has fallen on Leclerc’s team, which failed to give their driver any warning about Norris’ approach until Norris was already directly behind Leclerc.

BREAKING: Ferrari's Charles Leclerc has received a three-place penalty at the Monaco GP for impeding Lando Norris during qualifying 🏎️🇲🇨 pic.twitter.com/ssZe83gLX0

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 27, 2023

“Further, the discussion during the preceding portion of the track was entirely about competing drivers, not the traffic behind, which is a critical task at this track,” the FIA statement continued.

“The Stewards believe that there is much that Leclerc could have done prior to the tunnel to avoid the impeding had he received warning from the team at an appropriate time, especially considering that Norris’ approach was clear on the marshalling system.”

Much of the vitriol was aimed at Ferrari race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros, with countless fans taking to social media to demand the man known as Xavi is fired from the team after the penalty was imposed.

Norris was measured in his response to the incident when speaking afterward, but did concede it ruined his chances of a higher qualifying position.

Fire xavi 🤬

— Donquixote Doflaemon (@Doflaemon_M2) May 27, 2023

“With Charles’s incident, it’s always tough around here. I guess it did ruin my lap,” he said. “But the stewards obviously deemed it necessary, I guess.

“I think he did what he could. But when you listen to the team radio, they’re just telling him about Verstappen’s lap and giving him live updates, rather than concentrating on who’s behind him, which I don’t really understand. But it is what it is.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella added: “These kinds of incidents can happen.

Lando Norris took the incident on the chin. Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images

Unfortunately, Charles was on the racing line, possibly might have not been informed.

“We just reported what we thought the incident was about. It changes our afternoon possibly by a couple of positions.

“But we know at the same time that it’s tough for everyone, and I suppose he was just not informed by the team.

“Because otherwise it was a little too obvious. to be on the racing line under the tunnel, it’s very dangerous.”

Speaking to Sky earlier in the afternoon after qualifying, Norris said that he had been impeded and said Leclerc had broken the “one rule” about slowing in the tunnel.

He said: “He blocked me, simple as that. A penalty for him. I don’t know, disqualified or something?

“There’s one rule, which is don’t slow down in the middle of the tunnel, and that’s what he did, so not up to me.”