Ferrari penalized, Red Bull no: impeding incidents lack consistency in decision-making. Ferrari penalized, Red Bull no.

SPIELBERG – Charles Leclerc has been penalized for an incident that occurred during the Sprint Shootout of the Austrian GP, deemed as impeding against Oscar Piastri. The Ferrari driver, during Q1, was returning to the pit lane just as the McLaren driver was on a fast lap, forcing him to slow down and deviate from his line to avoid the Monegasque driver.

The race officials immediately noticed the incident and called both parties involved for a discussion before imposing the penalty. As a result, Charles Leclerc will start ninth in the Sprint race instead of sixth. This incident is destined to spark debates because from the footage, it is clear that Charles Leclerc had already entered the pit lane and couldn’t disappear; the surprise arises from what happened on Friday with Max Verstappen, who was also moving slowly on the racing line, causing damage to Kevin Magnussen. However, Max Verstappen’s maneuver did not require any further action from the race officials after a review of the data.

Leclerc-Verstappen, different evaluations and Ferrari pit wall’s mistake
To understand the reasons behind these different decisions, we need to rely on the statements provided by the stewards in the two aforementioned communications. In Charles Leclerc’s case, it highlights the harm caused to Piastri (who lost approximately half a second in the mini-sector that includes Turn 9) and a situation that could have been avoided, although it is not entirely Charles Leclerc’s fault.

It mentions the pit wall’s communication error: the last communication came near Turn 4 (“Piastri, 6 seconds behind”), and the Monegasque driver himself emphasized that he could have acted earlier if he had been informed. From this perspective, the incident appears unquestionable: a significant lack of communication from the Ferrari pit wall. Nevertheless, the absence of a penalty for Max Verstappen still raises discussions. Despite the Dutch driver clearly being on the racing line near Turn 1, the stewards decided not to impose a penalty since Magnussen did not slow down to avoid contact with the Red Bull champion, but rather due to a touch on the kerb that caused a significant loss of speed. It was a slight wobble for which the Danish driver didn’t need to perform an “evasive” maneuver to avoid Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.