Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc has been handed a huge penalty post-race, after a dramatic end to the Miami Grand Prix.
Leclerc limped home in sixth after his SF-26 suffered damage from a spin on the final lap of the race, in which Leclerc did brilliantly to keep it out of the barriers entirely.
But with the damage to his car, Leclerc struggled to make the corners during his final lap, and has now been handed a 20-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage multiple times. It means that Leclerc will actually be classified down in eighth, rather than the sixth he acquired on-track.
As Leclerc attempted to nurse the car home, he repeatedly ran off track and cut through chicanes. While this helped him maintain momentum and avoid losing further positions, it also triggered an automatic review by race control. Shortly after the race ended, the FIA confirmed that he was under investigation for two potential violations: leaving the track and gaining an advantage, and continuing to drive a car that may have been in an unsafe condition.
The second concern ultimately worked in Leclerc’s favour. FIA officials determined that there was no “obvious and discernible mechanical issue” severe enough to warrant punishment for unsafe driving. In other words, although the car was clearly not handling properly, it was not deemed dangerous to continue circulating.
However, the first charge proved far more consequential. After reviewing telemetry, onboard footage, and sector data, the FIA concluded that Leclerc had indeed gained a “lasting advantage” by leaving the track multiple times. Even though the excursions were prompted by the car’s damage, the stewards ruled that this did not constitute a valid justification under the regulations.
Because the infractions occurred repeatedly over the final lap, the FIA opted for a drive-through penalty—the standard punishment for such an offense. Since the race had already finished, this was converted into a 20-second time penalty, which is applied post-race to a driver’s total time.
The impact was immediate and significant: Leclerc dropped from sixth to eighth in the final classification. This reshuffle benefited several drivers behind him. His Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton was promoted to sixth place, while Franco Colapinto of Alpine moved up to seventh.
For Ferrari, the penalty was the final blow in what had been an underwhelming and frustrating weekend at the Miami International Autodrome. The Maranello-based team had arrived in Miami with high expectations, having introduced an extensive package of 11 upgrades following a five-week break in the calendar. There was genuine optimism within the team that these improvements would allow them to close the gap to rivals like Mercedes and potentially contend for victory.
Instead, the weekend exposed lingering weaknesses in performance and race execution. Strategy, pace, and now reliability or at least damage management combined to leave Ferrari well short of their targets.
The FIA’s official explanation made clear that the rules were applied strictly: even when a driver is dealing with a compromised car, leaving the track and gaining an advantage cannot go unpunished. Leclerc’s case highlights the fine margins in Formula 1, where even a recovery drive under difficult conditions can be undone by regulatory enforcement after the flag has fallen.
In the end, what looked like a gritty and determined sixth-place finish became an eighth-place result on paper nother reminder of how quickly fortunes can change in Formula 1.