Charles Leclerc, Ferrari Formula 1 driver, faces three place grid penalty for blocking Lando Norris in the Monaco Grand Prix qualifying.
As the Norris approached the tunnel section, he found the Ferrari driver inside it to be appearing slow. It pushed McLaren driver to take an evasive action on the flying lap in Q3.
Leclerc marked the third fastest score, but he will start the race at sixth owing to the grid penalty. Norris on the other hand will start from the fifth row.
The FIA stewards announced that Leclerc “had finished his final lap of Q3 and was in the Turn 4 through Turn 10 complex. Norris was on a fast lap and caught Leclerc in the middle of the tunnel and was clearly impeded.”
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They added: “Both drivers agreed that there was little that Leclerc could have safely done in the tunnel to avoid impeding Norris, given the difficulty in vision due to the light entering and in the tunnel and the change of lines from one side of the tunnel to the other.
“In fact, the Stewards observed that Leclerc reacted in a sensible way to a blue flag displayed by the marshals. But at this point it was too late.”
FIA on Leclerc blocking Norris
The FIA decision documented the negligence at the Ferrari’s end. It found the team complicit for not raising the flag about Norris approaching Leclerc. The team radio quite later when the Brit was already behind him.
They said: “Further, the discussion during the preceding portion of the track was entirely about competing drivers, not the traffic behind, which is a critical task at this track.
“The Stewards believe that there is much that Leclerc could have done prior to the tunnel to avoid the impeding had he received warning from the team at an appropriate time, especially considering that Norris’ approach was clear on the marshalling system.”
Speaking about the incident, Norris said: “With Charles’s incident, it’s always tough around here. I guess it did ruin my lap. But the stewards obviously deemed it necessary, I guess.
“I think he did what he could. But when you listen to the team radio, they’re just telling him about Verstappen’s lap and giving him live updates, rather than concentrating on who’s behind him, which I don’t really understand. But it is what it is.”
