After taking the penalty given to Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc at the Japanese Grand Prix into question, the FIA have now responded and clarified the situation, as the initial statement regarding Charles Leclerc’s 10-second penalty referenced the wrong article.
Initial statement
In that statement, where Charles Leclerc got a 10-second penalty for continuing to drive despite having a damaged car, the FIA referenced to article 38.3 d). However, tab d) of the article states a 10-second penalty plus a stop-and-go is the penalty, or a 30-second time penalty if it is awarded after the race, as was the case with Ferrari’s 21-year-old driver. Should this have been applied to Charles Leclerc, he would’ve finished in 12th place rather than seventh, where he was classified after his 10-second penalty.
Clarification
A day after the media presented the issue, the FIA have responded. In their comments, they said the following:
“It was a typo – it should just read 38.3 and the ‘d’ shouldn’t be there. The decision itself and results as published are correct.”
An honest mistake on the FIA part. This means Charles Leclerc was in fact given the correct punishment, but the wrong article was referenced in the statement that came with the penalty for the four-time pole sitter.
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