Charles Leclerc-Alex Albon duel at Tamburello: race stewards would have penalized the Ferrari driver. Ferrari avoided a penalty at Imola by instructing Leclerc to let Albon pass after a controversial move.

The incident at the end of the race
The technical failure of Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes forced the Safety Car to come out in the final stages of the Imola GP. Charles Leclerc had already completed two pit stops and, during this last neutralization, did not return to the pits despite a long radio discussion with his race engineer Bryan Bozzi.

Charles Leclerc thus found himself having to defend fourth place on worn tires against Alexander Albon, who had fitted new ones. The Ferrari driver defended hard, and at the Tamburello chicane he forced Alexander Albon off the track, with the latter being pushed into the gravel—an off-track excursion that allowed Lewis Hamilton to overtake the Williams driver.

Following this episode, the Ferrari pit wall instructed Leclerc to “give back” the position to Alex Albon, even though the former Red Bull driver had never actually completed the overtaking move (something Charles Leclerc rightly pointed out over the radio).

The decision taken by the Maranello team’s pit wall proved to be farsighted because, as confirmed by the stewards’ report, a penalty for Charles Leclerc would have been issued, which would have dropped the Monegasque further down the final standings. The stewards in fact determined that Charles Leclerc had deliberately forced Alex Albon off the track limits.