Charles Leclerc handed significant penalty at Miami Grand Prix

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc had a tough day on the track at the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.

But the difficulties did not end with the checkered flag.

Leclerc was in a hard fight with several drivers over the course of the Miami Grand Prix, including Max Verstappen and George Russell. He was running in a podium position heading into the closing act of the race, but on the final lap of the race, Leclerc spun at Turn 3 and tapped the wall. Despite the spin, Leclerc managed to keep his Ferrari in the fight to take the checkered flag in P6 just behind Verstappen.

But how Leclerc got to the finish line drew the attention of the race officials, who summoned him for both an incident with Russell on the final lap, as well as potentially leaving the track to gain an advantage during that final lap after hitting the wall at Turn 3.

Following the hearing, race officials hit Leclerc with a drive-through penalty, which, when converted to a time penalty as the race was over, became a 20-second penalty. That decision dropped Leclerc from P6, down to P8.

In the stewards’ decision, which you can read here at Document 97, they noted that they heard from Leclerc and a team representative, and also reviewed video, telemetry data, and radio messages. According to the decision, they found that:

“Car 16 spun on the last lap at Turn 3 and hit the wall but continued on track.

“The driver informed us that the car appeared fine save that the car would not negotiate the righthand corners properly.

“Given this problem, he was forced to cut chicanes on the way to the chequered flag. We determined that the fact that he had to cut the chicanes (i.e. to leave the track) meant that he gained a lasting advantage by leaving the track in that manner.

“The fact that he had a mechanical issue of some sort did not amount to a justifiable reason. We accordingly impose a Drive Through penalty on Car 16, given the number of times the car left the track and gained an advantage.

“We also considered whether there was an additional breach in continuing to drive a car with an obvious and discernible mechanical issue. We determined that there was no evidence of there being an obvious of discernible mechanical issue. We therefore took no further action in relation to that potential infringement.”

You can see the Turn 3 spin here, as well as portions of Leclerc’s final lap:

Speaking with the media after the race, Leclerc conceded that the incident was all on his shoulders:

A separate investigation was conducted regarding the contact between Russell and Leclerc on the final lap, but the stewards found that merited no further action, as both drivers described the contact as a “racing incident.”

Still, it was a tough Sunday in Miami for Leclerc.