Why Ferrari took matters into its own hands at Imola to avoid FIA penalty. To avoid a potential FIA penalty, Ferrari instructed Charles Leclerc to surrender his position to Albon at Imola.

Charles Leclerc’s stern defense against a charging Alex Albon in the final laps of the Imola GP resulted in a “self-penalty” for Ferrari’s number 16. The pit wall instructed the Monegasque to give up the position to the Williams driver, even though the fault was neither clear nor certain.

The Imola GP offered several surprises, particularly towards the end of the race. When the Safety Car came out due to Antonelli’s retirement, drivers had to make quick decisions: pit for fresh tires or stay out on used ones? Many chose to box, others didn’t—such was the case with Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Initially set on switching to new softs, the Ferrari driver changed his mind upon seeing his teammate Lewis Hamilton head into the pit lane.

When the Safety Car returned to the pits and racing resumed, the Ferrari driver found himself battling Albon’s Williams, with a significant tire delta. The Ferrari, on hard tires that had been used for about 20 laps, had to defend against car #23, which was on fresh hard rubber.

After bravely resisting several attacks, the Ferrari driver came into direct contact with Albon on lap 60. The Anglo-Thai driver attempted to pass around the outside at the Tamburello chicane, Charles Leclerc held his ground, and the Williams #23—side by side with the Ferrari—was forced into the gravel. The muscular defense by the Ferrari driver came under the scrutiny of the stewards.

Imola GP: Why Ferrari chose a conservative move to avoid a penalty for Charles Leclerc
At that point, fearing an imminent penalty, the Ferrari pit wall instructed Charles Leclerc—just a few kilometers from the finish—to give the position to Alex Albon. The Ferrari driver complied promptly, though he remained unconvinced. The dynamics of the incident that sent Alex Albon into the gravel didn’t clearly place the blame on Leclerc. Post-race, the Monegasque expressed doubts: “I don’t think I did anything wrong.”

If the blame was unclear, why did Ferrari decide to penalize itself without waiting for the FIA’s decision on Charles Leclerc at Imola? The team from Maranello feared a penalty for several laps and wanted to eliminate any risk. A 5-second penalty would have dropped Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari to ninth place. The Ferrari pit wall chose to sacrifice P5—turning it into P6—rather than risk falling to the fringes of the points.

Confirming Ferrari’s cautious decision were comments from Fred Vasseur. The French team principal told reporters: “We had a bad feeling.”