Leclerc loses Sao Paulo P7 for late clash with Lawson

Charles Leclerc's difficult Sao Paulo Grand Prix ended on an even sourer note after the Ferrari driver was handed a post-race five-second penalty for his late-race collision with Liam Lawson, costing him seventh place in the final classification.

The incident occurred on lap 69 of Sunday's race at Interlagos, with Leclerc and Lawson fighting over seventh position through the tricky final sector.

The pair made contact at Juncao (Turn 12), but both managed to keep going, with the Ferrari driver emerging ahead and crossing the finish line in seventh.

The clash was subsequently referred to the stewards, who summoned both drivers after the race to establish responsibility. Their verdict went against Leclerc, whose penalty promoted Lawson to seventh and relegated the Monegasque to eighth.

Stewards find Leclerc responsible

After examining video footage and telemetry, the FIA stewards concluded that Leclerc had caused the collision and that the contact had directly influenced the outcome of the battle.

Their assessment also leaned on the Driving Standard Guidelines, which established that Lawson had the right to the corner and that Leclerc was responsible for avoiding contact.

The stewards acknowledged that the Racing Bulls driver had described the impact as minor and without obvious sporting consequence. However, they rejected that interpretation, concluding that the collision had disrupted Lawson and allowed Leclerc to close the gap before eventually passing him.

In their verdict, they explained:

"While the contact was minor and Car 30 was able to maintain the lead thereafter, the driver of Car 30 claimed that the contact damaged the rear left rim of his car and also enabled Car 16 to get closer to him on track and then eventually overtake him 5 corners later. Furthermore, under the Driving Standard Guidelines, Car 30 had the right to the corner and it was for Car 16 to take the necessary steps to avoid a collision."

The stewards added that the contact had an "obvious sporting consequence", justifying the sanction.

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However, wet conditions and the relatively minor nature of the impact were considered mitigating factors, keeping the punishment at five seconds rather than the potential ten-second penalty.

"In mitigation, the wet conditions coupled with the nature of the contact (i.e. minor) was taken into account in imposing a 5 second time penalty as opposed to a 10 second time penalty."

Antonelli and Bearman also penalised

Leclerc was not the only driver to receive a post-race sanction in Sao Paulo.

Newly crowned world champion Kimi Antonelli was also given five seconds for an unsafe release during his final pit stop, when Mercedes sent him into the path of Franco Colapinto’s Alpine.

The penalty did not affect his fifth-place finish, as he retained a margin of more than 20 seconds over Oscar Piastri.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman likewise received five seconds for an unsafe pit-lane release that forced Leclerc to check up. His penalty had no impact on the final classification, with the Briton remaining 17th.

For Leclerc, however, the stewards' intervention turned an already frustrating afternoon into another lost position for Ferrari.

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