Quick Ferrari reaction spared Leclerc weighbridge penalty

A swift intervention by Ferrari's mechanics in qualifying in Monaco spared Charles Leclerc a potentially heavy penalty for missing the pitlane's weighbridge.

Leclerc inadvertently bypassed a signal to stop at the weighbridge at the end of Q2 and was heading to his pit when the Scuderia's mechanics stopped him and immediately pushed him back for the weight check.

If the Monegasque had continued to his garage and if his crews had worked on his car, or even just changed the tyres, Leclerc could have been severely sanctioned by the stewards, with disqualification from the session and grid drops among the potential sanctions included in F1's sporting regulations.

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"It's a very tricky one here, because we get into the pits and I actually don't even know where the panel is, and whether it's on the right or left," said the Ferrari driver.

"But it's very far, far right or far left, so you don't look in that direction.

"Actually, I didn't see at all that I was called to the weighbridge. But luckily for me, the team saw the alarm and just told me to stop and they pushed me back.

"It wasn't great for being into the same sequence of the others after that, but again, we got out of this tricky situation."

Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko noted Leclerc's misdemeanor and was unhappy with the stewards' decision to give the Ferrari driver a free pass.

"If you punish this consistently, as you do in the junior classes, then there will be a drastic penalty," marko told Austria's ORF..

"He drove by. They didn't change the car, but according to the regulations, it should be a penalty.

"I don't wish it on him because he's had so much bad luck in Monte Carlo, but I don't think you can say that pushing back will solve this offence."

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