Ferrari fined after bizarre error involving Charles Leclerc in Canadian GP FP2. Ferrari received a fine after a bizarre error involving Charles Leclerc in Montreal FP2.

Ferrari made an odd mistake with Charles Leclerc during FP2 in Canada. With the weather being a key factor on the free practice Friday, teams faced several challenges: dry tires or intermediates?

The Monegasque driver had fitted the latter compounds for his first lap on the Gilles Villeneuve circuit. However, Ferrari sent him out too early, before the track was declared wet, which is necessary to allow the use of wet tires.

At the end of the second free practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix, the stewards summoned Charles Leclerc to discuss a very unusual infraction. Ultimately, the Scuderia received a €5,000 fine for the regulatory violation.

“The stewards heard from the team representative and reviewed the video evidence,” read the FIA report published after the meeting – “Car 16 left the pit lane with intermediate tires at the start of the session even though the track had not been declared wet and returned to the pits after one lap. This constitutes a violation of article 30.5 l) which allows the use of intermediate or wet compounds only after the track has been declared such by the race director.”

The weather conditions initially raised concerns, so much so that there were fears of both sessions being canceled. The alarm subsided shortly before FP1 began, although the cars waited a quarter of an hour before tentatively taking to the track.

Weather conditions will be monitored in the coming days, although rain and low temperatures are expected for both Saturday and race day on Sunday.

Source: f1ingenerale