F1 Officials Punish Ferrari After Charles Leclerc Singapore Incident

Ferrari have been punished by the FIA stewards following an incident involving Charles Leclerc ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.

The next big Formula One race takes place on Sunday at the Marina Bay Street Circuit but on Friday night drivers were involved in practice sessions which turned into chaos.

In the second practice sessions, there were two red flags after crashes involving Liam Lawson and George Russell - as well as a pitlane incident which saw Leclerc made contact with Lando Norris' front wing.

Damage was done following the contact and subsequent crash into the wall, though McLaren were able to repair and replace to allow Norris to finish fifth in the qualifying simulation.

After a report from the Race Director, an investigation was opened by the FIA, who proceeded to release a statement confirming a €10,000 fine for Ferrari following the unsafe release.

Leclerc, who finished ninth, did not receive any penalties for a rare situation where a Ferrari team member was deemed responsible and gave "unclear instructions".

"After a red flag period, several cars exited their garages. Car 16 (LEC) was initially instructed by a team member to leave his pitbox. At that moment however, it was overlooked that car 4 (NOR) was already passing in the fast lane, approaching the Ferrari pitbox and directly into the path of LEC," the FIA stewards explained in a decision document.

"The team member, who was responsible for the safe conduct of releasing car 16, misjudged the situation and gave unclear instructions to LEC, who could not see NOR’s car. As a result, both cars collided in the fast lane.

"Having noted precedents for this type of breach, the Stewards are of the view that this breach warrants a more severe penalty than previously applied hence the penalty above is imposed."

Afterwards Leclerc was relaxed about the incident, which he explained came as a result of confusion with both McLaren drivers exiting the garage in quick succession - and the red flags which prompted a rush for laps.

“It was a bit of confusion with the two McLarens going out,” Leclerc stated.

“It looked like they were going out at the same time.

“So he [Leclerc's mechanic] thought that they would go out a bit slow, and so I didn't have the message to stop. In these cases, you kind of rely on the team.

“But these things happen, and it was also in a tricky moment because with all the red flags, everybody was in such a rush to get out to do some laps. So, it's a combination of things. It's not something you want, but these things happen.”

Qualifying for the Singapore showpiece takes place at 9pm local time on Saturday and 2pm BST time.

Max Verstappen has returned to form in the last two faces, taking pole position in the Italian Grand Prix and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to make life a little trickier for McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Norris.

Leclerc is fifth in the overall standings, with five podium finishes in the season.